Case Files of Zootopia Police
by davidbass67
Summary: This is the continuing story of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde as they continue with their cases with ZPD as well as developing their relationship.
1. Chapter 1

**Case Files of Zootopia Police**

All characters from the movie, "Zootopia" is under the copyright of Walt Disney Picture, Inc.

Any new characters are my invention but still applies to Disney's copyright.

 **Chapter One**

 **Incident at Zootopia School for the Deaf**

 _Beep_ _Beep_ _Beep_ went the alarm clock, showing the 5:30 time, waking up a sleepy fluffy grey young rabbit on the bed next to the alarm clock's end table. The rabbit put the paw on it to shut the alarm off.

"Okay, Judy, time to get up," the rabbit muttered to herself as she got up from her bed, removing the sheet from her. Went to the loo to relieve herself and then went down the hall to the kitchen to get some oatmeal from the pantry and took out the bowl from the cupboard, pour some oatmeal and took milk from the refrigerator, pour some into oatmeal. She put it in the microwave to warm it up while she got carrot juice and pour it into the glass. As she closed the fridge door, she noticed the picture on it. It was from her best friend, Nick's graduation. The picture showed how happy they were on that day, hugging each other. She sighed at the picture. It has been a week since their first big argument and Nick and Judy have avoided each other at Zootopia police station for a week as there has been no assigned case for a week so they have been working on paperwork lately. In fact, she has been doing some parking duty for a bit just to prevent bumping into him at the station. Despite this, Judy felt sadness.

"Damn you, Nick!" Judy growled at the picture, "I miss you so much. If this goes on by the end of today, I am going to have a talk some sense into you and work things out together! Maybe do some hustle!" She sighed, went to the table to finish her breakfast.

Soon, she put away the dishes in the dishwasher, went to her bedroom, and got dressed for the day. She took her Beetle car to work. After several minutes, she arrived at Zootopia Police Station. She was greeted by a cheerful big cheetah at the front desk.

"Good morning, Judy!" the cheetah greeted," Did you have a good sleep?"

"It was okay, Clawhauser," Judy answered.

"Just 'okay,'? Trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah, a bit. But don't worry, I'll live."

"Of course. By the way, did you hear about that school last night? There has been –"

"Hold on that news, I need to report at the 'bullpen' as I don't want to be late."

"Sure, no problem!" Clawhauser said as he ate some doughnuts.

As she was about to go to the 'bullpen' to the right, someone yelled her name. She turned toward the voice who is her boss, Chief Bogo.

"Good morning, Chief Bogo!" Judy replied, "I guess you have something for me?"

"Of course, Lieutenant Hopps. Something big came up and I need your help with this case. So, come on in my office."

"Of course! Coming!" Judy answered as she walked over to his office, waving at Clawhauser who waved back. As she walked into the office, she was surprised to see Nick already sitting on the chair in front of Bogo's desk. She also noticed the unfamiliar meerkat lady sitting beside Nick on his right. Nick turned to see the duo coming in and, upon seeing Judy, he quickly looked away without a word. However, the meerkat smiles at them.

 _Hope we don't argue in front of Bogo, Nick_ , Judy thought as she climbed on the big chair on Nick's left side and sat down. Bogo walked around and sat behind his desk.

"All right," Bogo began, "We have an incident at Zootopia School for the Deaf and we felt that you two would be best to handle this serious case there."

"D-deaf school?" Nick stammered, "You do know that we do not know any sign languages? Wouldn't some other officers who know some sign be better suited to this case than… us?" Judy could see that Nick hesitated in saying 'us'. Bogo did not find hesitation unusual, fortunately.

"Of course, I do," Bogo answered, "That's why I am having a certificated sign language interpreter to go with you. She is a… uh… what's that word? 'Cona or something?"

"That's CODA," the meerkat said, "which stands for 'Child of Deaf Adults' as my parents are deaf. My name is Kate Manor and you must be Nick and Judy. I've heard about you here at the station."

"Y-you have?" squeaked Judy, cleared her throat, and repeated, "I mean… Have you? It's nice to meet you, Miss Manor." She bets that Clawhauser probably told her a load of them.

"Likewise, Lieutenant Hopps," Kate said while signing it. Bogo, Judy and Nick marveled at her signing skill. "Impressive, Miss Manor," Nick said with a smile. Judy could not help but smiled as well because she knew that it's hard for someone to make a good impression on Nick. Nick, however, still avoiding eye contact with Judy and focused mainly on Bogo and Manor.

Bogo cut in, saying, "The reason why I chose you two for this case is because it involved some fox and bunny children and you know how trust is difficult between foxes and rabbits so you two are partners which make it easier to gain some trust on both sides for the case." Nick and Judy swallowed and looked at each other briefly before returning their attention to Bogo. Bogo continued, "The incident at school happened late last night where someone broke in one of the girl dorm rooms and attacked a thirteen years old female fox in her sleep and escaped out the window just after her roommate heard the commotion and screamed. It was dark and the roommate only saw small tail and legs jumping out the window. She may or may not being mistaken but the prime suspect might be a male jackrabbit based on her description. We don't know who yet but the problem is that the female fox is in a coma at the hospital due to extensive injuries. Well, from what I hear about the deaf community, rumors fly really fast and tensions between foxes and rabbits – both rabbits and jackrabbits – are high and prone to major conflicts between them, especially parents. Blames go this way and that way, all that nonsense. Now, it is up to you two to clear up the situation and get some straight answers that will bring the right culprit to justice while showing them that fox and rabbit can work well together."

Judy knew that both Nick and she would have to put aside their personal problems and focus on the job. Nick knew that too. It was going to be a difficult case for them – both on the personal and professional level. She sighed and said, "Of course, Chief. We will try our best." Bogo nodded at her and turned his attention to Nick, who hesitated a moment and answered, "Yes, we do our best to defuse the situation." Bogo smiled, handed them the folder, and said, "Great! Here is the case folder for you to review and be on your way as soon as possible." He turned to Manor, "Will that be a problem for you in this situation, Miss Manor?"

"Not at all, Chief Bogo," Manor answered, "I will do my best as well."

"Good!" Bogo exclaimed. "Off you go!"

The trio left the office and went to the police car parking lot while Miss Manor takes her own car and follow them to school. Judy braced herself for a difficult task ahead of her as she sat down in the car while Nick takes the wheel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Incident at Zootopia School for the Deaf**

Although it was only about 15 minutes' drive from ZPD Central Station to Zootopia School for the Deaf, Judy felt like it was a long drive as Nick and Judy had been quiet during the drive, uncertain whether to talk but decided to be silent to prevent any outbursts from either. It was not easy for her but she has kept her emotion in check as she looked through the case folder. She decided to break the silence by only mentioning about the case, rather than own personal issues as they were nearing the school.

"According to this file," Judy stated, "there are 24 deaf rabbits and 5 foxes along with various different animals from hedgehog to elephant with the total student size of 256. There are other species beside rabbits with short tails such as bobcats, manx cats, bears, deer, and panda, so we need to question them as well. I also heard that some have bobbed tails. That will be difficult to determine which one that did the attack as there are many that fit the profile."

"Right," Nick answered in a monotone voice, "Okay, we are coming up now." Judy understood Nick's feeling as he was a bullying victim of prey animals in his youth so this case must be hard on him, bringing back bad memories.

They entered the campus and parked at the parking lot nearest to the front door. They got out of the car and Miss Manor parked next to them and the trio walked together to the front door. There was a female raccoon manning the front desk. They walked up to the secretary. Nick motioned to Judy that she go first, she nodded as she turned her attention to the secretary.

"Good Morning! " the raccoon greeted, "My name is Alice Ringtail and how may I help you?"

"Good morning, Miss Ringtail," Judy replied, "I am Lt. Judy Hopps, and this is my partner, Lt. Nick Wilde. Our interpreter, Miss Manor, will be assisting us with communication needs in our case. Can we see the headmaster please?"

"Certainly," Ringtail said as she stood up and lead the trio to the door on the left. Just as they arrived at the said door, Ringtail turned to Judy and Nick. "Before we go in, I just want to say that I am pleased to hear that the police send the perfect officers for the case, a bunny and a fox. I have heard about you, Lt. Hopps from the savage situation last year. It was such an honor to meet you two in person!"

"Thank you," Judy replied as Nick nodded in agreement.

Ringtail opened the door and Judy, Nick, and Kate went inside to find the 12 pointed antler male deer sitting at the desk. "Good morning, Mr. Buckbrook," Ringtail said as she let in Nick, Judy, and Kate, "This are Lt. Nick Wilde and Lt. Judy Hopps from ZPD. They brought the interpreter along whose name is Kate Manor." She turned to the officers and Kate, "This is our headmaster, Mr. John Buckbrook." Everyone shook paws and, then Mr. Buckbrook said, "Please have a seat and we will begin shortly," while Mrs. Ringtail left the room. Nick, Judy, and Kate, climbed up the three chairs in front of the desk and faced the headmaster who sat down behind the desk.

Buckbrook begin, "All right, the other officers took in the reports last night and we have separated the foxes and rabbits in a separate location in the dorm building to prevent any conflicts. We have… uh," Buckbrook shuffled the papers on his desk and pick up a paper, handed it to Nick, "the list of foxes and rabbits students so you can question them."

"We need the list of all other students with short tails and bobbed tails as well," Judy requested.

"Oh!" Buckbrook exclaimed. "One moment." He pushed the intercom button, "Mrs. Ringtail," he began, "will you please get me the list of other students with a short tail and bobbed tail beside rabbits. Thanks." He turned his attention to the officers. "Anything else?"

"Yes," Judy said, "We may need to questions other animals beside foxes and rabbits who might witness the attacks as well as any disagreement or disputes prior to the event because of the possibility of someone wanting revenge against… uh," she opened the case file and looked for victim's name, "Lizzie Blacktip, for something happened that night." Judy noticed that Nick looked uneasy, knowing that it brought bad memories back to him. At that moment, the door opened by Mrs. Ringtail, carrying a copy of the list of additional students. Mr. Buckbrook motioned to her to give the list to the officers. Judy accepted the paper and Mrs. Ringtail left the room. Judy took a look at the list, handed it to Nick who also read the list. Nick took a double take at one of the names and species next to it.

Nick looked up at the headmaster and said, "One of the names – Greg Snowtail – on that list is an arctic fox, and how did he get his tail bobbed?"

"Oh, yes," Buckbrook recalled, "I remember that kid. It happened about two years ago and there was cancer on that tail so it had to bob. It was hard for him and his parents, especially when he lost all furs during chemo but now he's fully recovered and got all his furs back."

Nick sighed and looked back at that name, looked briefly at Judy, and then back to the headmaster, "Are Greg and Lizzie friends?"

"Not that I know of, Officer Wilde," Buckbrook, "Why?"

"They are teenagers," Nick answered, "and both are about the same age so it might be relationship problems that could turn ugly or someone is jealous of their relationship. We just want to cover everything and check for motives. Greg has bobbed tail and could be mistaken for a rabbit that night because of his white/gray furs. Or, someone might frame him for this attack. So, that makes Greg a person of interest. He could be guilty or he could be a victim of the frame. Perhaps a love triangle situation?"

"Very interesting detective work, Officer Wilde." Buckbrook sat back in his chair.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Nick smiled, "Is there a room that we can do our interrogation each student? We want to call Greg Snowtail in first and then the rest."

"Of course, we do," Buckbrook stood and lead the trio out of the Headmaster's room down the hall toward an empty room with table and some chairs suitable for small mammals such as fox and rabbits. "This is the small mammals conference room. Is this acceptable?" the headmaster asked.

"Perfect!" Nick answered, "We appreciate your help and have someone bring Mr. Snowtail in." He turned to Kate, "Can you wait out here in the hall for a moment? Let me know when that kid arrives."

"Sure, Lt. Wilde," Kate replied.

Nick motioned Judy to enter the room. She complied. Once, they both were inside, Nick closed the door and turned to Judy.

"I… uh… Before that kid comes in," Nick said, "I… I just want to apologize for last week and what happened to that fox and it just brings back my bad memories and we need to focus on our task so we need to put aside our own relationship problem for now." He raised his paw to stop Judy from replying, "I know you want to talk about it but we need to focus on our case and not our relationship – whether it will go on or not between us. Our relationship can wait. Deal?"

Judy sighed, "Okay, deal." She wasn't happy about it but was relieved that it was a good first step regardless. At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Judy answered, "Yes? Is Mr. Snowtail here, right?"

"Correct," came the answer from another side of the door. Judy looked at Nick, wanting to grasp his paw but decided not to, walked over and opened the door. "Come on in, Mr. Snowtail," Judy greeted as the kid and Kate walked in. They saw Nick standing on one side of the table. Nick motioned to the young fox to sit opposite him while Judy sat next to him and Kate sat at the end of the table between the officers and the young fox.

"Okay," Nick begin while Kate interpreted in signs, "First of all, you are not in trouble yet, Mr. Snowtail. We just want to ask you some questions so you need to answer honestly. All right?"

"Yes," the young fox signed, as Kate interpreted back in verbal, "Call me 'Bob' because my real name sounds too close to color, gray, and I don't like that name. Everyone called me 'Bob' since my recovery from tail cancer. I like it so it stuck." Nick and Judy looked at each other and smiled, while Kate signed, "Cool."

"Of course, we'll call you 'Bob'", Judy said, "If you are uncomfortable with me here, I can leave and wait out in the hallway."

"No," Bob signed as Kate interpreted, "I am fine with you here. I am used to many different interpreters and some of them are rabbits and some are foxes."

"Great!" Nick said, "Shall we begin?" Bob nodded his head.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Incident at Zootopia School for the Deaf**

"Okay," Nick began while Kate interpreted in signs, "What is your relationship with Lizzie Blacktip? You know… friends or boyfriend-girlfriend or just classmate. Be honest."

"Well," Bob signed, "She and I have been friends since we first came in school in first grade. And, now, we just started dating few days ago."

"Just started dating?" Judy asked, turned to Nick and back to Bob. "That might be a possibility a cause for motive. Are there anyone jealous or upset that you two are dating?"

"I don't know. Everyone seems to be okay with us being together. Maybe we missed something."

Nick and Judy sighed, it was going to be harder without a possible lead to suspect. Nick thought of something, turned to Bob, "Did you or Lizzie have old boyfriend or girlfriend before you two went together?"

"Lizzie is my first girlfriend. As for Lizzie, I am not sure but she used to hang out with some guys. Maybe one of them? But I don't think it's possible."

"Why is that?" Nick asked.

"Because those guys she hanged out before are not foxes," Bob answered. "One is rabbit and other is manx cat and, uh…. A wolf, a jaguar, and a raccoon. Oh! They all have either short or bobbed tails." Judy and Nick looked at each other. Seems that Lizzie has a thing for animals with a short tail. Judy turned to Bob and asked, "Does she like animals with a short tail, not long tail?"

"Maybe but I could be wrong because she also has friends with long tails," Bob answered.

"Well," Judy said, "That is a good start. Can you tell us their names? All those with short or bobbed tails."

"Okay," Bob signed. "They are Chester Jax, Bill Bushson, Tom Short, Harry Moonhowler, um…. Oh, Justin Fluffrings." As Kate interpreted each name, Judy looked through the list of students, she turned to Nick, "They all have short or bobbed tails." Nick nodded.

"Um… is Lizzie popular with guys at school?" Judy asked.

"Yes, she's popular with guys at school. She's pretty fox." Bob answered.

"All right," Nick said, "Can you tell me where you were last night between twelve midnight and one a.m.?"

"I was sleeping in my dorm room in Bussmoose Hall."

"Okay, who are your roommates there so we can verify your being there?"

"Yes, they are David Buckwhacker, and Frank Ottermore," Bob answered. "They are beaver and otter."

"Okay, we will ask them later. Thanks for your help, Bob." Nick said.

Judy led Bob out to the hallway, there is a red fox sitting on the bench next to the door. "Thanks for bringing Mr. Snowtail in and we want you to bring in uh…," Judy looked at the list, picked out a checked name, "Bill Bushson, please, Miss…?"

"Miss Redtail,"the fox answered. "I will bring him in shortly."

"Great," Judy smiled. She returned to the table and turned to Nick.

"I am curious," Judy wondered, "Can a fox or anyone with long tail tuck in tail to make it looks like it's a short tail?"

Nick was surprised by the question, pondered a moment before answering, "Yes, I think we can if we can tolerate some discomfort for a short period of time. I remember a fox from my school tucked his tail for Halloween event. He dressed up as the zombie or something, I don't remember, and he made it looked like a bobbed tail. He mentioned that it was uncomfortable because he tied his tail with an elastic band. His tail was bended for a few weeks since that party before going back to normal. I think I'm getting where you are heading. Since Bob said that Lizzie is popular with guys and you are right about asking me that question because some might be jealous especially with a foxy fox."

"So, when we question some foxes, we can look for bended tail if possible," Judy pondered. "Yes," Nick answered, "we will do that. Also other animals too, not just fox."

Judy nodded, "We need to be discreet with it so that we do not let them know we look at their tail." Judy turned to Kate, "We need your help as well, will you, Miss Manor?"

"Yes, I can be discreet and will let you know after each interview," Kate replied.

"Great," Nick said, "and also at female students' tails as some might be jealous of Lizzie's popularity and it happened in the girls' dorm where boys are not allowed in." Judy groaned.

"That broadened the field of suspects instead of narrowing," Judy said and before Nick could reply, there was a knock at the door. "Come on in!" Judy said loudly at the door.

The young tan bunny came in the room. Judy motioned to the bunny, "Good morning, Mr. Bushson. Have a seat across from us there." Judy said. The boy complied and sat down.

"Can we call you Bill?" Nick started as Kate interpreted. Bill nodded. "Sure, I'm surprised that you two are cops. Most cops we see are big and you two are smallest. The cops last night are big. And I have never seen any fox as cop either."

"Well, we are the first bunny and fox cops," Judy smiled. "But let's get to the task now, can you tell me about last night between twelve and 1 a.m.?"

"Yes, my roommates, Kevin, Travis, and I were in our room, playing some games as it was Friday so no school. Then we went to sleep around 10:30 or so."

"What are your roommates' last names?" Judy asked as she looked down the list.

"Kevin Thumper and Travis Earthburrow," Bill signed while Judy marked the names on the list.

"Okay, do you know either Lizzie Blacktip or Bob Snowtail?" Judy asked as she looked up from the list.

"Those foxes?" Bill exclaimed. "No, we bunnies don't want to be friends with those fo – " He stopped as he looked at Nick. "Sorry, Mr. Fox. No offense."

"None taken and call me Officer Wilde," Nick said, "I understand how you feel about fox but you need to get over the prejudice and stereotype and get along as Judy and I have. We –" Nick stammered a bit before continuing, "We have been friends since we first worked together on her first case last year. We learned that we are not what stereotype suggested by our each species, and we overcame our old prejudices and worked well together. That's why we are partners at ZPD. Yes, we had our ups and downs but that's normal between any friends, regardless of species. Can you do that in the future?"

"Yes, sir," Bill signed as Judy smiled at Nick's words of wisdom.

"All right," Judy said, "Do you know anyone who might be jealous or upset about Lizzie and Bob's new relationship?"

"I don't know for sure," Bill signed, "Maybe a few foxes and others but to attack Lizzie, I have no idea who would do that. Yes, we had bullies and all that but Lizzie is popular so…"

"How do you know Lizzie was attacked?" Nick asked.

"Gossips," Bill signed, "It go around very fast in the deaf community." Nick and Judy looked at each other, recalling Chief Bogo's comment about it earlier in the day.

"I guess that there are some troubles between rabbits and foxes since last night, correct?" Judy said.

"Yes." Bill signed, as Judy recalled being in middle of protest during the savage situation last year so Judy said from her experience, "Of course, however, my experience from last year is that you need not jump into conclusion so let us do our job and we will find the right person as I have learned from my mistakes. Please keep the gossip from spreading out further."

"Yes," Nick agreed, "I guess that is all for now."

Judy stood up from the chair and led Bill to the door, opened it, motioned Miss Redtail over, which she complied. She looked down her list, "Okay, bring over uh…" she gasped at the recognition of the name, "Maria Bunhill."

"Got it," Miss Redtail said as she led Bill down the hall. Judy closed the door, went to sit down at the table. Nick propped his arm on the table, asked her, "From your gasp, I assume you know this next visitor, Carrot." Judy sighed.

"Yes," Judy answered, "Maria Bunhill is from Bunnyburrow. I know her family and saw them during the festival because they live on the other side of town from our home. I recalled the parents mentioning about having deaf daughter long ago but I don't see them often. I have met Maria few times but we didn't talk much as she was shy."

"Interesting," Nick smiled as Judy playfully knocked his arm off the table, wiping his smirk off. "Knock it off, dumb fox," Judy retorted, "I just hope that she's not the guilty party as I would hate to face her family if she's guilty."

"Understood," Nick said with both his paws up. The knock on the door cut off the conversation as Judy got up and opened the door to welcome the next visitor. The young bunny gasped and hugged Judy hard. She signed too fast for Judy to understand so she turned to Kate for help. Kate signed, "Can you repeat that so I can interpret to Officer Hopps?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed in voice then signed, "I am surprised and happy to see Judy here and," she turned to Judy, "I did not know that you are the cop here!"

"Yes," Judy said, "I am a cop and how are your family?"

"They are fine," Maria signed, "but I missed them."

"Of course," Judy agreed and led Maria to the chair and then sat across from her at the table. Seeing her nervousness, She said, "Nothing to worry about, he's my partner and his name is Officer Wilde."

"Oh!" Maria signed, "Is he the boyfriend that my family talked about?" Judy and Nick looked at each other in embarrassment. "Uh…" Judy stammered, "D-don't worry about it. W-we want to get on with the relat… er, I – I mean, the investigation, all right?" Maria giggled at Judy's stammers. Judy sighed, "This is serious, Maria!" while Nick sniggered at her side. She pinched his side under the table, causing him to startle.

"Okay, Judy." Maria signed as she calmed down while Nick rubbed his side from the pinch. Judy smiled at her success.

"Okay, now, tell me what happened and where were you last night, Maria," Judy started.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Incident at Zootopia School for the Deaf**

The clock struck 12 o'clock as Judy and Nick took a break from the interviewing with the students. They had interviewed 8 more students since Maria Bunhill. They just finished the interview few minutes before 12 and they told Miss Redtail that they will resume the interview after lunch.

Since it was not a good idea to eat lunch in the school's cafeteria, they decided to eat out at one of the nearby restaurants. Miss Manor had brought her own lunch so it was just the two of them to eat. They found Cha-Hua restaurant. Nick ordered chicken taco while Judy ordered bean and carrot burrito. It was a bit awkward for them as they have not eaten together for a week since their big argument.

As they waited for the food, Nick broke the ice, saying, "Since Maria brought up the subject at the beginning of her interview. I have been thinking about it for a bit… How the bunnies in your hometown, outside of your family, reacted when they found out about us?"

Judy choked a bit on her carrot soda as she did not expect that kind of talk from him. She pondered a bit before answering, "Well, as in it's in a rural area, it's a pretty conservative small town so the interspecies relationship is viewed more negatively in a rural area as opposed to big cities such as Zootopia, Los Angelzoos, and Zouston. Remember that fox spray I had?" Nick nodded, as she resumed, "many rural bunnies still considered foxes as untrustworthy and 'dangerous'. My parents thought that way so that's why they gave me that spray just to shut them up about 'safety around foxes' which is better than Fox Taser they tried to give me. Some are more accepting than others. The Bunhill family, for example, are more accepting to interspecies friendship or relationship than my own parents until after I joined the ZPD. Gideon Grey, remember what I mentioned about him? He was a bully when we were young but as we got older, he realized his errors and had apologized to me for his youth behavior. His parents still don't approve of interspecies relationships but accepted the friendship only. So, it depends on the family as well as experiences with other species, especially predator species. As for our relationship, in the beginning, only the Bunhill family and my family have accepted it, however, for other families… well, that depending on their views as well as time will tell."

"Well," Nick said, "From what Maria said about her time last night and her relationship with the foxes and others that are a relief to hear that. By the way, I sure am glad that she has proven herself to be innocent so you don't have to worry about facing her family. I like that kid. I have never met a deaf kid like that. But I am a bit confused about something."

"What is confusing?" Judy asked.

"Maria is deaf, right?" Nick said, "So, from what I hear, most bunnies have more sensitive and better hearing than some species. So, how some bunnies become deaf despite bunnies' superior hearing?"

"Good question," Judy smiled, "but you forgot something too."

"What?"

"Bunnies, like any other species, are prone to any diseases, health issues, disabilities. So, it is not uncommon for any species, especially those with better hearing, to have deafness. Some are genes and some are from severe illness. Maria was born hearing but she had a bad illness when she was about 4 or 5 years old. Her parent took her to the doctor and found out that she had lost her hearing. It wasn't easy for the parents and it took them awhile to accept her deafness. Most people considered deafness as inferior mental intelligent but Maria had shown me and my family that deafness does not cause any intelligence deterioration at all. From what my parents had heard from her parents, she has had excellent grade reports at school. Got mostly 'A' on most of her subjects. Her parents said that she is always a happy girl despite her shyness. She is shy especially around strangers mainly because of communication barriers as most people don't know signs. She knows me from the festivals and other events gatherings that our families got together so she wasn't shy with me even though I know very little sign language that I learned from her."

"Oh you do, Carrots?" Nick smiled, "What signs do you know?"

"Well," Judy pondered for a bit, "I know the signs for 'Hello', 'Goodbye', 'yes', 'no', 'sorry', and um… Oh! 'I love you,'" while demonstrating each sign.

"W-what… wait…," Nick stammered, "What's that last one?"

Judy opened her mouth as she begins to show the sign before stopping herself, realizing the situation they were currently in. She pondered a bit before speaking. "W-well, it's a sign for 'I love you' but um… I want to to say something too, Nick. I want to say that I am sorry for what happened last week too. I – I understand that it was not easy for both of us lately but I do miss you, Nick."

"Well," Nick pondered, "Let's wait until this case is over so we can focus on the case. You always told me to focus on cases so I am returning that 'nagging' favor to you."

Judy blushed a bit. "Of course, Officer Sly Fox."

"All righty, Officer Dumb Bunny," Nick smiled. "That being said. So, who is next on our list?"

"Well," Judy said as she took out the list, looked it down, "That would be Julie Jackbenny."

"Jackbenny?" Nick said, "That name sounds familiar but it has been awhile or something since I heard that name."

"I think you must be thinking of that famous comedian, Jack Bunny," Judy answered, "You know…. That '39 years old' thing."

"Oh! That must be it," Nick exclaimed as he hit his forehead with his paw. "Duh me! He died before I was born. My parents told me about him and had watched some old movies on TV with them when I was young. Funny guy. He's one of the reasons why my family and I had no problem being friends with preys such as rabbits as well as my wanting to join that scout group. It has been awhile since I heard that name."

"Really?" Judy perked, "He was very popular among us bunnies but I never knew that foxes like him too."

"Of course, we foxes love him," Nick said as the waitress brought the foods. "Well, the food's here and let's finish it and we need to get back to the grind of solving this case without getting sidetracked."

"Of course," Judy agreed as she took a bite of her burrito. She took out the case file from her bag. Reviewing some notes they had written down during the interview.

"Did Miss Manor say if she notices any tail being bend on any of the students we had interviewed?" Judy asked.

"Nope," Nick took some notes from Judy to look in some notes. "Let's see… We noticed five of them have short or bobbed tails. Since Miss Manor did not report any bended tail, we will still consider those 5 as possible suspects."

"Right."

"Oh, my," Nick exclaimed, "There are few kids with the same name. All rabbits."

"Oh, yeah," Judy said, "Some are littermates so they share deafness because of mother's illness or genes. Other 'single' deaf rabbits became deaf due to illness or accident during their youth. So, it's not surprising to see some littermates who are deaf. That's why there are many deaf rabbits here. A lot to interview. Just be glad that we only focus on high school kids, not elementary kids unless they witness or heard something as the campus are split into two groups – elementary and high school as well as the size of animals. About a quarter of 256 students are rabbits and most are in elementary now so…"

"Oh, yeah," Nick remarked as he finishing up his lunch. "I remember visiting your family farm and getting 'attacked' by a swarm of your young siblings, asking me all kind of questions and such. You were laughing that time when I asked for your help. Remember?"

Judy laughed at the memory. "Oooooh, yeah! You were annoyed that time when I kept laughing. Don't worry, we won't bring all siblings in at the same time for questioning during our investigation. We never know if one of those are guilty or not."

"Of course, so, first up is Julie, then, Alex Hearttail and then three littermates – Dan, George, and Robert. Oh, maybe you have a deaf relation, Edward Hopps?"

"Really?" Judy grabbed the list from Nick. "Interesting. I don't have any deaf in my family… oh, and look at his address, that's different town so I don't think that he's related to my family, however, could be a farther down the family tree from our ancestor. Could be a distant cousin? I will find out later after the case with help from my dad, if possible. He's a single deaf rabbit so he probably become deaf from sickness or accident so no genetic cause."

"If he is, then you better get Maria to teach you some more signs, Carrot," Nick smirked.

"Oh, sweet cheese and crackers!" Judy moaned as Nick laughed. "It's complicated to learn a new language while we are busy with our police workloads," she said. Nick laughed again and said, "Complicated? Is that so? We do know some few signs already so that should be easy, Carrot." Judy looked at him, puzzled, "Oh, we do? Such as?" she folded her arms as she sat back. Nick smiled and flipped the bird at her. Judy groaned and playfully hit Nick on his arm, hissed, "Nick!" while looked around the restaurant and, fortunately, no one saw Nick's gesture but she laughed as well. He laughed so hard that caused some other customers to look at him. Judy playfully hit him again. "Enough!" while having a hard time preventing herself from giggling.

The couple calmed down from giggles and finished their lunch and returned to the school. Miss Manor was already sitting at the table when they entered the conference room.

"How's lunch?" Kate asked as Nick took a seat while Judy went out to get Miss Redtail to retrieve some students to interviews.

"Illuminating," Nick propped up his arm and rest on his paw. "Very illuminating. Found out that there many deaf rabbits who are littermates."

"Of course," Kate said, "I had done some interpreting job for some littermates sometimes so I'm not surprised at this."

"Ah. True," Nick pondered a bit and asked, "Can you tell a difference from each person to determine if the person is guilty of something such as prank and such even though they are alike?"

"Yes, you just look at the way each behaves in a certain way to know that something is up such as giggling or guilty looks or whatever – depending on personality."

"Great, since we are not too familiar with deaf so we need your help with this but be discreet and let us know after each interview. Ah… Here they are!" Nick stood up while Kate followed as Judy got in the room with a young bunny behind her. "Good afternoon," Nick said to the young bunny, motioning her to the seat opposite from them. "I am Officer Wilde and this is the interpreter, Kate Manor. Thanks for coming."

Judy sat next to Nick while the young bunny sat the said chair. Nick motioned to Judy to start the progress. She nodded.

"Okay, can we call you Julie?" Judy asked while Kate interpreted. The bunny nodded. "Great. Can you tell us what happened and where were you last night, Julie?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Incidents at Zootopia School for the Deaf**

The clock chimed 5 times to announce that it was 5 o'clock now. The sound interrupted the interview progress in the conference room. They had just about to finish with the latest interview of the young rabbit named Julie Luckyfoot.

Nick looked at the clock, turned back to Julie and asked, "Is there anything else that you want to add before we finish up?"

Julie pondered a bit, and said, "Yes, I heard something but I am not sure if it's true or not. One of the guys started to limb a little this morning. He seems to be fine before but I am not sure if it's from rugby practice yesterday or something else."

"Is that so?" Judy asked, "Does this guy have short or bobbed tail?"

"I don't know," Julie answered. "All I know is someone got hurt yesterday. I did not see the rugby practice or see this guy limping at dinner last night. Just a gossip that I heard."

"Well," Nick interjected. "It's a good start. Glad that you mentioned that because no one mentioned about rugby practice until now. I will talk with the coach soon and get some answer. Any more to tell us before we close up?"

"I guess that's all," Julie answered. "Great," Judy said as Nick closed the folder. "Thanks for coming and have a great evening!" Julie signed "Yes" as she got up from the chair.

Everyone left the conference room. Ms. Redtail returned Julie back to her dorm while Nick, Judy, and Kate left the building to their cars in the parking lot. "Your turn to drive, Carrots," Nick said as they got close to their car.

"Shall we go back to the station or what?" Nick asked as he put on his seatbelt on the passenger seat.

"Yes," Judy said as she started the car, "But I'm starving so we gonna eat first and then we go to the station. We will need some more guys with the interviews as there are much more to question so let's ask Bogo if we can spare some to come with us tomorrow."

"Sounds great."

They got out the school's parking lot and they found the restaurant that they have been wanting to eat for ages. They ate there for about an hour before. They had a nice chat. Judy was glad that they were on talking term.

"Nick," Judy pondered, "I have a bad feeling about this case. There is something funny about it."

"You think so, Carrots?" Nick asked as he took a bite of his chicken fried chicken. "Like what?"

"Of all those kids that we have interviewed so far seems to be innocent but I could be wrong," Judy pondered as she ate a big salad, "However, they could be hiding or something. Maybe something big."

"Oh! I get it," Nick said, "The Blacktip family owns a big retail company. Is that what you are thinking? You think there is something big going on? Like Mr. Big kind of thing?"

"Yes," Judy said. "Something like that. Maybe someone is jealous of her family, not her relationship with any guys?"

"Well, I sure hope it's just the old love triangle case instead of something big cuz if it is, it'll be big news like our savage case last year."

"I hope so too," Judy agreed, "but still, that funny bad feeling I got…"

"Hope you are wrong about this," Nick smiled as he finished his tea. Judy nodded in agreement. "I sure hope that I'm wrong."

"All right. The night's young. We can finish up some works at the station and we can get up early and get all the answer that will, hopefully, prove that your bad feeling to be moot."

They finished the supper, paid the check and resume the drive toward the station.

The drive was eventful until some black car hit them from behind. "What's wrong with this guy? Don't they know that this is police car? That'll give them more trouble than they ask for!" Judy resorted as Nick turned on the siren. Despite the siren, the car hit them again harder and there was gunfire from them.

"I think they know we are police! Whoever they are, we better call for back up." Nick said as he looked back but the bullet hit the back window and he ducked just in time as a bullet flew overhead. Nick grabbed the CB speaker. "Car 54 to the station! This is urgent!" Nick said to the speaker. The black car hit them again. Clawhauser's voice came through CB, "This is Chewhauser. What's happening, Wilde?"

"We are under attack!" Nick yelled at the CB. Clawhauser's voice asked, "Where are you, Officer Wilde?" Nick looked for street signs, got a glimpse of it. "We are on Westheimer Road and I think we just passed the intersection of Julliard Road! Looks like we are heading to the river!"

"Got it," Clawhauser's voice said as they got hit again, forcing them off the road but Judy managed to avoid the trees and got back on the road. The black car was now on the side of the car on Nick's side. The driver wore a black ski mask, hiding the ears, preventing them from identify their species. Nick took a closer look at the passenger who also wore ski mask but he noticed that the person was signing. They shot again, hitting the CB radio, ending the communication with the police station. Nick groaned and threw out the CB speaker out the window toward the driver but hit the side of the window instead.

"Carrots!" Nick exclaimed, "One of the passengers is signing!"

"What?!" Judy said as the car hit them sideway, this time, forcing her to refocus on the road. Someone shot them from the back seat again, breaking windows but missed the duo as Judy sped up. Another gunfire and one of the bullets hit one of Judy's ears. "Carrots! Your ear is bleeding!"

"AAAAggggghhhh!" Judy yelled and swerved the car toward the black car, "I know! Get the gun and shoot them back, ya dumb fox!" Nick got out the gun from the glove compartment and shot them back, missing them.

"Shoot the tires!" Judy yelled as there was another gunfire from them while hitting them back.

"That's what I am trying to do! Do you expect them to stand still for us, eh?" Nick shout back, then looked ahead in alarm. "Look out! The river up ahead! We gonna stay on the bridge there or we'll fall off!"

"Got it!" Judy retorted, "You worry about that car, and I'll worry about that bridge!"

The black car hit them again and one of the shooters shot Nick's arm. "Argh!" Nick yelled, "No more Mr. Nice Fox!" and pointed the gun on the tire and shot them successfully but at that moment they also successfully shot their tires and both cars fell off the riverbank, missing the bridge.

"AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Nick and Judy yelled as the car plunged into the water below. SPLASH! The car was sinking fast. Nick scrambled for the emergency belt cutter, found it and cut the seatbelt of both him and Judy's. Nick pushed the door out while Judy did the same on her side and swam against the flow to the bank to avoid falling into the waterfall. They gasped for air for a moment. They got on the riverbank successfully and lay down for a short moment. Then, Nick stood up to look for the black car and the animals. He sighed, sat down next to Judy.

"Looks like they went over the fall," Nick said as Judy tore a sleeve from her shirt to cover her bloodied left ear. Judy looked at Nick, exclaimed, "Nick! Your arm!"

He looked at his right arm, groaned, took his shirt off and wrapped it around the arm to stop bleeding with Judy's help. At that moment, the sound of siren came over the bridge. Judy used the flashlight from her hip to get their attention.

"Well, that answered one thing, Carrots," Nick said as the sounds of sirens got closer. "And, that is?" Judy asked.

"That your bad feeling is right and there is a connection between those guys and the attack on Lizzie Blacktip."

Judy groaned as several police cars stopped nearby. "I hate it when my bad feeling is right."

Bogo got to the duo first with the other officers.

"What happened?" Bogo demanded. Nick answered first.

"It appears that the deaf school case is bigger than we thought." Nick stood up. "Because I saw one of the attackers in the car used sign language."

"Can you repeat that signs to Manor so she can translate it for us?" Bogo asked.

"No, it happened too fast so I couldn't catch the signs clearly," Nick answered. "Sorry."

"That's all right," Bogo said as the ambulances arrived and Bogo ordered Nick and Judy to go to the hospital. He also told them not to worry about paperwork yet as he can wait until the next day.

"Oh, before you go," Bogo added, "Did either of you get the license of that car?"

"Not fully," Nick answered. "Judy was driving and focused on the road when that car hit us from behind and it happened so fast that I only got a glimpse part of it. The first three letter is GDR and it was black Dodge late modal. That's the best I can get."

"Well, we got part of the license and a black Dodge so that's a good start," Bogo said. "Now, off you two go! Get some rest tonight."

"Yes, sir," Nick and Judy chimed at the same time as they got inside the ambulance to take them to the hospital.

"I'm pooped," Judy said as she plopped down on the gurney as Nick sat next to her while the EMS applied the fresh bandage on his arm while the ambulance drove on.

"Me too and you know what I'm thinking, Carrots?"

"Yes, we may need to ask Mr. Big for help in this case as he might know who is behind the attacks," Judy answered.

"Right you are, Carrots." Nick smile.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"NIIIIIICK! Come on! Breathe! Nick! Don't you dare to die on me! Come back!" Judy wailed as Nick was lying on her arm, dying from the wound. The ambulance was taking forever to arrive as Nick's life was rapidly fading away. No sounds or heartbeat from Nick. Judy shook the lifeless shoulder to try to wake him up to no avail. She checked his neck for a pulse which was nonexistence.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Judy cried as Nick passed on as the rain started to fall down on them.

Judy gasp. She rose up on her bed and looked around her dark apartment. She was alone on her bed. She sighed in relief.

 _Damn. It was a dream._ Judy thought as she looked at the clock on her nightstand. It read "3:23." She sighed, got off the bed, and walked to the bathroom to relieve herself. Then, she looked at the mirror, checked her wound on her left ear. It was bandaged now and she knew that it will have a hole for a while before closing up and become a scar. She expected that because of her duty as a police officer.

She returned to her bed, look at her smartphone on the nightstand. _I know Nick is sleeping at this time but now that things are okay between us so I guess he won't mind my calling him_ , Judy thought as she picked the phone up, dialing Nick's number. After a few rings, the phone was answered.

"What's up, Carrots?" Nick answered sleepily. "Is everything okay?"

"Y-yes," Judy stammered. "I-It just that I had a bad dream and… umm. I-I just want to check on you and see that you are okay. Sorry to bother you this early. I'll let you go back to sleep."

"Wait," Nick interrupted before Judy could hang up. "Look, It's okay, Carrots. I can imagine what that dream of your is like. Something bad about me like dying or something. I can tell by your voice. Am I right?"

"Y-yes," Judy answered. "I-I just can't help it. I just – I don't know… I mean, I knew that I would have someone on police to be hurt or even dying but it is different when… uh… something happens to someone you are close to, and I don't know how I would be able to manage if something happens to you, especially after we had a row last week. It – ," She could not continue as she started to cry and hold her pillow tightly.

"It is all right, Judy," Nick said calmly. Judy knew that Nick would never call her "Judy" unless he was serious as Nick continued. "I admit that I have been doing some thinking too lately because of what happened to us recently, and, um… I don't know what to do if something bad happens to you as well. I would be feeling guilty about what happened last week too even though you made me upset but still... I also want to say that I admit that I do miss you and love you, Judy. I also realize that every relationship have their up and down and I expect that we would argue about something once in a while. We have already apologized to each other recently and all that. But despite that, I knew that it would be hard for either of us if something happens to each of us and we can always be there for each other through the best and worst of times. Our argument is over and we move on because our bond is strong since we first met. You have changed my life for the better and I would not have any other way. You are the best thing that ever happened to me because you stood up for me at that ice cream place. No one did that for me until that day."

Judy smiled as she stopped crying.

"Oh, Nick," Judy said, "You have no idea how hard it is for me to be without you since our big row last week. It hurt me badly. Forgive me?"

"Of course, I forgive you," Nick said cheerfully.

"Also," Judy interrupted before Nick could say any more, "I want to say something too. You also have changed my life. You stood up for me when Chief Bogo demanded my badge at the Rainforest District and, then, you told me about your childhood experience at the canopy. You made me realize that you are an honest and kind animal that broke the stereotype about each other. You became my best friend at that moment because I could not be done it without you. And, I would never think that I would fall in love with a certain fox, of all animals. Thanks for being there for me and being my best friend, Nick. I feel better now."

"That's great, Carrots," Nick smiled, "I feel the same way too. All my life, everyone looked down on me because I am a fox – 'untrustworthy sly fox'. I was not too thrilled when you outhustled me to help you with that savage case but when I saw Chief Bogo demanded your badge, I had flashback to my childhood and decided to stand by you because you overcame your stereotype against me as a fox and you made a lasting impression on me because you were very clever and sly – something I had never expected in a bunny. I was amazed that we worked well together on that case and we still do today. We are a great team and I would not want any other way. And, yes, I never expected that I would love a bunny, especially a prey species. Isn't life crazy? But I'm glad it happens to us. I remember your mistake at that press conference and I was upset about it too so I thought about it and realized that you did not intend to make me upset last week. What happened at school also made me realized that we are not perfect and we make do with our imperfection like those deaf overcame their deafness to have a normal life. Your family's deaf neighbor, Maria Bunhill, showed me that she's a happy child regardless of her deafness and made me think about us as we are not perfect or even 'normal' because of our different species."

"Of course," Judy said, "I remember how my parents reacted when I told them that we started dating but they accepted because they learned from me and also, you were wonderful with my 275 siblings and they love you."

"Of course," Nick giggled at the memory, "especially those four hyperactive kids who jumped at me like a group of savages, making me wondering whether they were infected by nighthowlers until I heard your laughter and, they were asking me all those questions that I realized that they weren't infected."

Judy laughed at the memory. "Yes, they sure do! So full of energy!"

"Yes, they were that," Nick giggled, "By the way, how your ear?"

"Oh, it's not too bad and it has a bandage on it," Judy answered, "How's your arm?"

"Not bad but it's hard for me to sleep certain way without hurting it," Nick said, "At least yours make you look like a pirate or something. Looks cooler than mine."

"Oh, stop it, Nick!" Judy laughed. "Okay, we better go back to sleep, and thanks for answering my phone. It made me feel better after that bad dream."

"No problem, Carrots," Nick said, "Good night and see ya at the station in the morning."

Judy sighed as she put down the phone, went back to bed. _Oh, Sweet Cheese and Crackers! I missed those crazy noisy gay neighbors too. They would hear me and wake me up sooner._ She thought. The neighbors had moved away recently after they got married and got a nice house. She sighed again and drifted back to sleep.

Judy arrived at the police station and the officers in the lobby all yelled "Yarr!" like a pirate at her, especially Clawhauser, who wore a pirate hat and raised his arm – _how did he get that hat on short notice_? she thought. She suspected that Nick told them to say that to her when she come in because of her bandaged left ear. She giggled as she walked to the 'bullpen.' Nick and other officers were already seated and yelled "Yarr!" to her as Judy joined Nick in their usual big chair in front. She slapped Nick's uninjured left arm playfully as he laughed. Bogo came to the room before she could say anything to her partner.

"All righty, folks," Bogo began. "Settle down! I want to inform you that the deaf school case is indeed a bigger case than we had thought. Someone attacked Officer Hopps and Wilde last night after their investigation at the school. Both attacks on them and the deaf vixen seem to be connected due to Wilde's observation of the attackers using sign language. So, we need to make this case a priority now."

The other officers looked at the duo as Bogo resumed the presentation. "Fortunately, they suffered only minor injuries and are able to come here today. However, due to this attacks, we need to send more officers to the school with them to both assist them with the investigation as well as to providing extra protection. They also may go other places outside of school during the investigation so their 'bodyguard' will have to go with them anywhere they need to go. Anyway, Officer Wilde had managed to get part of the license number and the make of car. We found the car at the bottom of the waterfall along with their damaged patrol car. The license and car matched Wilde's description, however, that car was reported stolen the other day, just prior to the attack on a deaf girl so we are back to square one. It seems that these criminals are smart to cover their tracks."

Nick and Judy groaned as well as the rest of the officers. Bogo continued with assignments. The chief assigned Officer Husky, an arctic wolf, and Officer Wile, a coyote, as Nick and Judy's 'bodyguard,' while he assigned Officer Shasta, a cougar who knows sign language, and Officer Jason Clawhauser, slender cousin of Ben Clawhauser, to assist with the investigation. Soon, the group left to walk to the parking lot when Kate saw them in the lobby.

"I heard what happened to you last night," Kate said as she joined them on their way to parking lot. "Are you two okay?"

"Nah," Nick retorted, "Just a scratch. But they got away. The car they used was stolen so we are back to square one. But there is a plus side – They made a pirate out of Carrots," as he thumbed at Judy's bandaged right ear.

Kate and the officers laughed as Judy playfully hit Nick's left arm as she was too short to slap his head's backside.

"Ooooh! Y'all gonna be careful with this bunny pirate!" Nick retorted.

"NICK!" Judy yelled as she hit him again playfully.

"By the way," Nick added, his laughter died down, "These two will be joining us as our 'bodyguard.' They are Officer Husky and Officer Wile, while the other two who will join us on our investigation, they are Officer Shasta – the one with missing finger, and Officer Clawhauser – the thin one."

Kate and the officers exchanged greetings as they arrived at their cars. Nick and Judy, of course, got a new patrol car due to damages they got last night. Nick took the wheel as it was his turn to drive. Kate and the officers followed them to the school without incident.

They meet Ms. Redtail at the front desk and gasped at the bandages on Nick and Judy.

"Oh, my!" Ms. Redtail exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

"We are fine," Judy said before Nick could say anything, knowing Nick's humorous comments. "Can we get things going and we brought along two more to assist us with the investigation. Officer Shasta knows sign language because his brother is deaf," she turned to Shasta, "Correct?" He nodded.

"Great!" Ms. Redtail said as she led them to the conference room. Nick and Judy went to the same room as yesterday while Shasta and Clawhauser went to the next room.

"Well, hope we get better luck today," Judy said as they said sat down and wait for the next student to come in.

"Yes, and no more attacks tonight," Nick agreed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

It has been about two hours since the start of this morning session of interviewing the students and, Nick and Judy were still in the investigation with the interpreter, Kate Mason, and a student who is a rabbit.

Nick was questioning the student when Judy began to hear something odd due to her sensitive rabbit ears. She looked around, searching for the source. After a short awhile, Nick noticed Judy's odd behaviors.

"Is everything okay, Carrots?" Nick asked. Kate and the student looked at her.

"I am not sure," Judy answered, "I hear something odd but it's faint and I cannot make it out because I have never heard that kind of sound before as I'm a country girl and I wasn't raised in the big city."

"Really? What does it sound like?" Nick asked

"Well, hard to say but it's kind of like a tiny fan or something."

"Tiny fan? Tiny –" Nick pondered, a realization came to him, turned and looked out the window. He spotted it as the object came toward the window quickly, his eyes widen. "Quick! Get under the table now!" he yelled.

Judy was not sure what he saw but followed his command while Kate grabbed the confused kid and went under the table.

Suddenly there was a crash that broke the window, then there was an explosion did the most damage to the room closest to the window while the group hid under the table, protecting them from the explosion. However, the table legs nearest the window gave away and collapsed on Nick's tail. He screamed in pain.

"Nick!" Judy exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

"Damn!" Nick grunted as he pulled his tail away from the end of the table. "My tail got crushed by that end of the table."

At that moment, the door burst open by the other officers.

Officer Husky knelt down next to Judy while Wile went to the damaged window to see if he could find someone there.

"Are you all right, Officer Hopps?" Husky asked as he pulled Judy from under the table. Judy nodded, "I'm fine but Ni- I mean Officer Wilde's tail got injured."

Nick got out from under the table as Officer Wile joined him at his side. The other two officers from the next room came in.

"See anyone there?" Nick asked. Wile shook his head.

"Nick," Judy walked over to Nick, "What was that you saw?"

"That was a drone, carrying a bomb, Carrots," Nick answered as he cleans off the dust and debris off his shirt.

"A drone?" Judy and Wile asked simultaneously. The other officers and Kate looked at him in shock.

"Yes, Carrots," Nick said, "Now, you know that sound so you can recognize it and warn us sooner next time."

"Of course," she said as she crossed her arms. "That's something I will never forget. Anyway, how's your tail?"

Nick groaned at the question, he brought up his tail, inspected it with his paws. He yelped as he touched the injured part.

"Right, you need to get that tail to the urgent care soon, Nick," Judy commented.

"But…"Nick began but Judy interrupted, "No but, Shasta and Chewhauser are here so they can take it from here while I take you to the clinic for that tail."

"We have to come with you, Officer Hopps," Husky said.

"Of course, you do," Judy said as she put her paws on her hip. "You can tag along and keep your eyes out for any drones or runaway cars coming our way."

"What about –"Nick began but Judy elbowed his rib, knowing what he was going to say.

"Don't worry, Nick, I am sure Bogo will assign someone else and Kate will stay with them for the rest of the day. So let's get your poor fluffy foxy tail to the 'tail mending joint' so they can fix it back up to good old foxy self."

The other officers giggled at Nick, who growled lightly at Judy as she grabbed his arm and lead him out of the room. She turned to her best friend and whispered, "This is the payback for that pirate thing at the station this morning, dumb fox!"

"Sly bunny!" Nick growled quietly and she giggled.

Judy and Nick walked to the car while Husky and Wile walked behind them. As they arrived at their car, Husky walked swiftly and gently grabbed both Judy and Nick's arm.

"What –" Nick began but Husky hushed him, "There's something funny. I can smell it."

Judy and Nick looked at each other and then at Husky, knowing the wolf's sensitive nose could pick up something faint that rabbit or fox cannot.

Suddenly, Judy heard something from the bush on the other side of the parking lot, turned to Nick and Husky, and whispered, "Husky, I heard something now. It's coming from that bush at the far end of the lot. Act naturally." The canines nodded and Nick got an idea, and whispered to Judy, "Time to hustle, sweetheart."

Husky was confused by Nick's comment and was going to say something but Judy stopped him, "Trust us, I know what he's planning. Just play along," Judy ordered quietly.

The group continued walking toward the patrol car as if nothing's happened while Judy listened for any new sounds.

"Oh! That reminds me, Carrots," Nick began loudly. "A friend of mine told me about the activity called geocaching and he mentioned that he had hidden several of his caches near this school because he lives nearby. He showed me few times when we hang out sometimes and it was very interesting but I never had the desire to join in the geocaching stuff. I was wondering if y'all doing any geocaching or not. No? Anyway, he said that he hide something funny here in this parking lot after he gotten permission to hide it from the school office. So, one day, he showed it to me, it was so funny, and I almost had serious thought about joining the geocaching stuff. Anyway, I forgot about it until now. Let's see if I can remember where it is cuz I wanna show it to y'all as y'all need a good laugh after what happened there few minutes ago."

Judy was not sure exactly what geocaching is even though she had heard the term before but could not recall where she heard it. However, she and the others need to play along to keep whoever behind the bush from getting suspected and runs away so they can catch the culprit. She decided to play it along.

"I have heard the term but I forgot exactly what geocaching is, Nick," Judy asked loudly while keeping her ears focused on the sound, "Can you tell more about it?"

"Excellent question, Carrots!" Nick smiled, "It's like a scavenger hunt with the assistance of satellite's GPS reception. Oh, I just remember now! There is an app for it on smartphone… Let me check if it's still there on my phone," Nick took out his phone and searched for it. He found it.

"Ah ha!" he exclaimed, "Here it is! You just open this app and click this "Find nearby Geocaches" button and it will show you either a list or a map of closest geocaches. You click on the one that is the closest, like this," He pushed some images on his phone and it showed the information about caches. Judy and others looked at it while Judy kept her ears open. The geocache that Nick had picked was pretty far from the parking lot but Judy and others knew it was his hustle to fool someone in the bush into thinking that there was a cache close by.

"Now, this app tells you how far you are from the cache," Nick continued as the group walked toward the suspicious bush. "See? It said that we are about a hundred and 15 feet away from the cache but let me warn you that some caches are small that you would have to look for it for few minutes but luckily for me, my friend showed where it is so I know exactly where it is now thanks to this app. Are you ready to see this funny cache?"

That was the cue for Judy and others to jump and apprehended the hidden person behind the bush. It was a young gray fox, who tried to run away but Judy and Husky were too quick for him and caught him without trouble.

"Well, well, I'll be damned," Nick smiled. Judy looked at him as Husky handcuffed the struggling grey fox.

"You know him, Nick?" Judy asked.

"Oh yes, I do and I wish that I had not found him in this situation," Nick answered. "He is the nephew of my old classmate, Alex. His name is Edward."

Author's note: I am a geocacher and if you are interested or curious about the geocaching - yes, it is real, you can check it out at .com


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Don't call me Edward, you prey loving skanky! I am now called Adolf," the young fox resorted as Husky hold him tightly to prevent his escape attempt.

"Don't call me 'skanky', buddy," Nick growled. "Your uncle will be happy to hear that we found you but he will be very disappointed by your actions and your bigotry. He has been looking for you for the last 2 years. There is the picture of you on that missing child posters in our police station. When he found out that I joined ZPD, he was the first to congratulate me after Judy and asked me to find you."

Wile found something on the ground, put on the latex glove before picking it up, and showed the object to Nick and Husky who recognized it as remote control for the drone.

"I take it that it is yours, Edward," Nick said.

"What do you care? I don't have to answer this to you or any of skanky or inferior scrubber! So what? And don't call me that dishonorable name! I am Adolf! They will honor me if I succeed!" Edward retorted, trying to free himself from Husky but he held him back. Nick turned back to Edward.

"Who will 'honor' you if I may ask?"

"Society of the Predator Supremacy!" Edward said with glee as Nick and Judy looked at him with dismay. SPC has been suspected of terrorism and eating their prey victims as they believed in their supremacy over the prey and demanded to exercise their 'rights' to hunt and eat the prey species.

"Oh? Is that where you have been in the last two years?"

"What do you care? They are now my family! Not my prey loving uncle skanky!"

"Tsk. Tsk," Nick said with disappointed voice, "You send the bomb through our room window and try to kill us but luckily for us. Judy got an excellent hearing and warned us just in time for us to go under the table but it fell on my tail, injuring it. I would be upset with you for hurting my tail, however, that is not the case anymore. Wanna know why? Let me tell you. I really hate being the bearer of bad news to my dear old friend about their missing nephew who have joined that disgusting racist group! Your aunt took care of you and you ran away and did this! You know how she would feel about your association with those terrorists!"

"Who care about my aunt?! She's not my mother! She's an inferior scrubber!" Edward spat at Nick's face.

"Don't you dare call her that! She has worked hard to raise you!" He angrily said as he wiped the spit from his face with handkerchief and turned to Husky, "Get that piece of crap outta my face before he tempts me to hit him hard!" he growled at the wolf, who complied and took the teen to his patrol car. "Oh, one more thing, tell Chief Bogo that I believe that SPS is involved in this situation," Nick added.

"Of course, Officer," Wile said as he opened the patrol car's back door to let Husky put Edward in. Nick cursed loudly as he and Judy walked back to their patrol. He hit his right paw hard on the car's hood, left a little dent in it. Husky and Wily went their separate way to the station directly while Nick and Judy go to the nearest medical clinic.

"You drive as I am no mood to do it, Judy," Nick said angrily as he opened the passenger side door while gripping his now-pained paw. Judy understood and complied. "Besides, I gonna call Alex," he said as he sat down in the car. He dialed his phone while flexing his painful paw as Judy started the car. The phone answered after two rings.

"This is Alex," the cheerful voice said. "What a pleasure to hear from you, ol' Nicky! What's up, man?"

"Yes, I have news for you but, first you need to sit down," Nick answered.

"What?" Alex asked, "I am sitting now. Is it about Eddie?"

"Yes," Nick continued, "we found him. He's alive and well, but he has gone astray and joined the SPS group and demanded that we call him 'Adolf.'"

"SPS?" Alex said sadly, "Oh, damn. This is bad. Eddie always hangs out with the wrong crowd. 'Adolf', he said? Just like the Fuhrer, Adolf Fitler, eh?"

"Seems that way, bud."

"Damn, Molly won't like that news because SPS is suspected of killing some prey victims and eat them like the Fitler's Naxi did during the Great War and her family was one of their victims," he sighed, "But thanks for the news, Nicky. We owe you one."

"Not a problem, Alex. We'll meet with you later, part of normal police procedure as you are Edward's legal guardians, you know. I need to stop someplace first before going to your place. Tell Molly that if she got any blueberry pie left, save it for me so it'll improve my mood."

"Of course, and it is always a great pleasure to see you and we can't wait to meet your partner, Judy."

"Of course, see ya."

"Great! See y'all soon!"

Nick disconnected the phone and sighed. Judy looked at him with concerns.

"Do you mind my asking you some questions about Edward and family?" Judy asked, "If you do, I understand and I am sorry that this happens to you. I know it is hard to you."

"No, I don't mind," Nick replied, "So, what do you want to know?"

"Well, I noticed that your friend has custody of Edward so I am guessing that his parents are gone or something, am I right?"

"Yes, that's correct," Nick answered, "Edward's father, Harry, who was an older brother of Alex, died in an auto accident with his wife when Alex was in his first year of college. Edward survived because he was at home with Alex while Harry and his wife went out on a date – needed a break from baby caring. It was very difficult time for Alex, balancing his school studies and raising that kid who was only about two and a half years at the time. He almost quitted his college but his college classmate, Molly, encouraged him to stay and helped with the raising. They married shortly after graduation from college and have had two own kids. But Edward was always a troublesome child for them. He ran away few times but came back until two years ago when he finally ran away for good."

"Wow, and from what I heard about Edward saying that his aunt is an 'inferior', I'm guessing that she's not a fox and is a prey, am I correct?"

"You are right. Molly is a wonderful capybara. She's the one who helped Alex with patience and supports in raising the troublesome child. It was hard for their parents to accept their love but, ironically, it was the young Edward who convinced them to accept the eventual marriage between them. Molly also was the one who brought back my faith in harmony between predators and preys after that incident at a scout meeting, which is another reason why I do not have any problem with the interspecies relationship. A couple of times, I found Edward and brought him back when he ran away. Now, it's the third time I did it. When I join ZPD recently, Edward told me that he had changed their will, giving me custody of Edward if they die too soon before he's eighteen, which will be in few months from now. After that, he would be on his own and there would be nothing I can do about him."

"Unbelievable," Judy sighed as she drove along, "I never thought this would happen. Molly wasn't a fox and she raised the young fox the best she can and now he has turned against his own surrogate mother, and even using insulting terms against her."

"Yes," Nick sighed as well, "Alex had matured faster than I did because of Edward. I have helped Alex for the first few years after that accident until Molly took over full time in raising that child. He often asked me to find him whenever he ran away because I know hustling and other stuff that had enabled me to find him. As he got older, he knew my hustling ways so he had finally able to learned to avoid me in the last two years."

Nick and Judy arrived at the small mammal medical clinic, went to the front desk and request the medical service with the secretary, then they went and wait in the lobby. Judy noticed that Nick still looked angry. She wanted to comfort her best friend but she was unsure exactly what to say so she decided to stay quiet and hug him gently, trying to soothe him. They stayed that way for few minutes. It seems to have worked as he became calmer and relaxed. She smiled because she felt that she had achieved with calming him.

Soon, the nurse, a ferret, called Nick in and she led Nick and Judy to one of the rooms. Nick sat on the examination bed while Judy sat at one of the chairs in the room. Shortly, the doctor, an armadillo, came in.

"Hello, I am Dr. Tejanillo and what can I do for you, officer?" the man said as he took out the pad from the wall folder.

"We had a situation at one of the schools today and my tail got injured in the progress," Nick answered, more calmly, "I don't know if it's just bruised or a broken bone."

"We have to do an x-ray to make that determination, officer," the doctor said, "But first let me see your tail for a moment."

Nick obliged by letting the doctor handles his tail, inspecting it from the end to the tip. He yelped quietly when the doctor touched the part at the third of four way of his tail. Judy was tempted to run over and hold Nick but she sat still.

"Okay, that's the spot where it was injured," the doctor remarked matter of fact, "How did that happen?"

"There was a drone carrying the bomb and it exploded in the room we were in and one end of table fell on my tail," Nick answered.

"Fell on it, eh? Hopefully, it's just a bruise but let's take an x-ray. Let me check your heart before we do that," He said as he took his stereoscope, attached the earpieces to his ears and put the scope on Nick's chest. Then he put the blood pressure device on Nick's arm. After a few moments.

"Your heart rate and blood pressure are normal, officer. Any other discomfort?" the doctor said.

"No," Nick began but was interrupted by Judy who said, "His right paw. He hit his paw hard on car's hood recently."

The doctor looked at Judy and then back to Nick, who resorted, "My paw is fine!"

"Let me be a judge of that, son," the doctor said as he picked up Nick's right paw to examine it as Nick gave the dirty look at Judy and yelped as the doctor pressed the side of his paw. Judy gave her 'I told you so' look at Nick.

"Your partner is right," the doctor said, "but I daresay that it's probably only a bruise. We'll take x-ray for both tail and paw to be sure."

The doctor took Nick to the x-ray room while Judy followed and sat in the chair outside the door to the x-ray room. They returned to the examination room. The doctor said that he would be back with some x-ray results. They are alone for a moment and Judy took the opportunity.

"Nick," Judy said, "I am scared now that SPS is most likely involved in this case. I heard bad things about SPS as it is a neo-Naxi group. Hunting the prey like sports and eat them during the Great War. There were some murders of prey victims in the city that were linked to SPS and other neo-Naxi groups. Some bodies never recovered because of the possibility of them eating them and burning the bones to cover the crimes. They also killed some police officers and ate them. They also kill some predators because of their disabilities and it is possible that they are targeting the deaf children because they considered deafness as disability and inferior. This is worse than the Savage case we had last year."

"You are right about that, Carrots," Nick said, "I'm scared too. Molly said that her great-grandparents were murdered and, most likely, eaten by the Naxi during the war. Our Allied soldiers found evidence of cannibalism along with eating of the prey victims. Some small predators, including foxes, were also hunted and eaten by the Naxi who considered small size to be inferior as well. She also said that some predator survivors felt guilty about the crimes and became vegans – refused to eat chicken, fishes and such but their new diet went against them and died younger than usual. It was difficult for both sides. Molly's grandparents were lucky as they escaped to Switzooland, a neutral country, and then moved to Zootopia after the war. My family has never gone through this horror so I knew little about it until I met Molly. I learned a lot from her and made me appreciate the importance of harmony and peace between predators and prey in our modern society. Oh, Mr. Big mentioned that his distant family members were also killed by the Naxi because of their small size. So, you can see why they need polar bear as bodyguard."

"Mr. Big?" Judy said in shock, "I never thought of that but I am glad that he will be on our side in this case in case we need his help."

The door opened and the doctor returned with the x-ray results.

"Good news, Officer Wilde," the doctor said, "Both tail and paw came up negative so both have bruises but you need to be extra careful with your tail as it is tender at the moment."

Nick and Judy thank the doctor and left the clinic to go to his friend's home in Savannah district. Judy was surprised to see that the fox living in a nice home as most foxes are not well-to-do folks.

"I'm curious, Nick," Judy said as they pulled up the driveway to the house, "What do Alex and Molly do?"

"Alex is the supervisor at the post office while Molly is an elementary teacher at one of the public schools," Nick answered, "Not all foxes are sly as most animals thought. It was Molly's father who helped Alex getting the job at the post office."

"Ah, I got it," Judy said as she and Nick got out of the car and went up to the front door. Nick knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal a young fox-capybara boy. His fur is light brown and his muzzle resembled his mother's while his ears resembled his father's, however, his tail was more like a cat instead of fox fluffy tail. He was almost as tall as Judy. The boy was happy to see Nick and greeted him.

"Hello, Jon!" Nick greeted, "This is my partner, Officer Judy Hopps." He turned to Judy, "This is Jon, son of Alex and Molly."

The trio went inside and greeted Alex, who was a little taller than Nick with a bit of chubbiness around his waist – almost like Judy's old school bully, Gideon Grey but bit taller, in the living room.

"Hey, you crazy sly fox!" Alex greeted as he grabbed Nick's head and gave him the noogie as Judy and Jon giggled. Nick pushed him away with an elbow against Alex's rib.

"All right, you silly goofy fox," Nick resorted as he smoothed his head fur, "This is my partner, Judy."

"About time!" Alex rejoiced, "Ol' Nicky told me a lot about you! I could not attend his graduation from ZPD Academy few months ago so we missed the opportunity to meet you until now. Molly would be so thrilled to see you but she's in her room, having her crying spell because of Eddie. Give her time to settle down. Hopefully, she'll come see you before you leave."

Nick and Judy looked at each other, unsure of what to say next but it was another person who broke the brief silent. It was a female young fox-capybara but her muzzle and tail resembled her father's and ears her mother's with grey fur.

"I heard someone come in so I want to come out and meet Judy whom I have heard so much from Dad and Nick."

"This is my daughter, Hayley," Alex proudly introduced, "Let's sit down in the dining room for a late lunch and tell me all about Eddie and whatnots!"

They went to the dining room. There were bread and foods on plates in the center of the table. They sat down at the table.

"All righty, Nicky," Alex said matter of fact, "Let talk about Eddie."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

The group started taking some foods and bread slices from various plates to make their preference of sandwiches at the table.

"Well," Nick said, "right now, we are in the middle of an investigation of an attack at the school and there has been two attempts on our lives – the latest this morning by your nephew with a drone carrying a bomb and we escape with a small scratch. We caught him on the school campus with the remote control. Of course, we took him to jail and he will face some charges from this events."

"What?" Alex exclaimed, "He tried to kill you this morning?"

"Well," Judy interjected, "We don't know if we are intended target or if it targeted on some of the deaf students. Someone at the station is questioning him now as we speak so we will get some answers soon."

"Yes, that is correct," Nick agreed, "And we are here to ask you some questions about Eddie to shed some lights on his motives because you are his legal guardian and we hope that you can answer something that we don't know. We know it's hard to you, especially Molly. All parents and guardians hate that kind of situation with their kids."

"Yes, you are right," Alex said sadly, "It is difficult. Hayley was with Molly in her room when you came in." He turned to his daughter, "How is Mom now?"

"She still shaky but a bit calmer now," Hayley answered, "I asked her to join us for lunch and she said that she's not ready yet so give her time. She will come when she's ready."

"That's all right," Judy said, "And I am glad that you are here. Can we ask you something about Eddie before we go the station with one of you?"

"Sure," Hayley nodded.

Okay, tell us a bit about what it's like growing up with Eddie because we want to get some kind of idea what motived him," Judy asked.

"Jon and I always had an uneasy sibling relationship with Eddie when we grew up. We are not sure but we believe that Eddie blames Dad for what happened to his parent because he was with Dad when that happened."

Judy looked at Nick, then to Alex and back to Hayley, "Yes, Nick mentioned about Edward's accident. I guess that's why it's always difficult raising at a young age as it did to your dad."

"Yes, it was hard for him," Hayley agreed, "when we grew up, we never understood why Eddie got into so much trouble while we grew up, even though we do get into trouble occasionally but never as bad as Eddie's. Later, we learned about Eddie's parent's accident and all that that we began to understand a bit at a time."

"I am curious," Judy pondered, "Did Edward insult you like 'half-breed' or something similar like he did to your mother?"

"Oh yes, he did on the day he ran away two years ago," Hayley said. "I never forget that day. I was shocked and hurt by it. Jon did not understand the meaning of it as he was still young that time. I learned that word from someone else at school couple years before that. That was the last time any of us seen or contact Eddie. He said insulting words and slammed the door on the way out. He also said that he was glad that Jon and I cannot have our own kids due to our mixed genes that rendered us infertile so there won't be any more mixed breeds. I was hurt by that and asked my parents about it which they confirmed with deep regrets."

"What?" Judy exclaimed, "You can't have your own kids at all?"

"Unfortunately, they cannot," Molly said as she entered the lunch room, "It was very hard for Alex and me to accept that we won't have our own grandchildren but we will still love adopted grandchildren someday regardless."

Judy looked at Nick with regrets because of the possibility that if they end up together and have children, they would be infertile like Jon and Hayley. Nick noticed Judy's sad expression.

"Let's not worry about that right now, Carrots," Nick said, "Let's focus on Edward and the case, all right?" Judy nodded.

Alex noticed the interaction between Nick and Judy, exclaimed, "I knew it!" interrupting the musings of the others. He turned to Nick, "You sly fox! I knew it because you always talk about Judy and I figured you two are dating!" Nick sighed in resignation as Judy blushed.

"All righty, you smart fox," Nick smiled, "Yes, we have been dating for a while and we had our ups and downs but let's focus on the case for now, all right?" Alex giggled but Molly gently slapped his arm to stop his giggling.

"Of course," Molly agreed, "Alex and I had our ups and downs but we keep our bonds strong. Ironically, it was Eddie that brought us together and convinced our parents to accept our love and, eventually, our marriage. We don't understand why Eddie is so bigot even though we are interspecies couples and treated all our kids equally. It was some of Eddie's friends at school that had influenced him with bigotry ideas. We told him that bigotry is bad and all that but he still won't listen. He bullied some mixed kids at school as well. Jon and Hayley were not bullied by Eddie at school because they were in different years. He did some bullying at home and got into trouble for that but he still resisted Alex and me. The last few years has been very difficult for us as he refused to respect us as their guardian, saying that we are not their real parents repeatedly which broke our hearts. We even went to counseling for that but it did not work out. It was hard for Alex because he gets upset about this situation. And – and…" Molly started to cry again as Alex put his arm around her to comfort her.

"It was harder on her than me," Alex said as he comforted his wailing wife, "because of all the efforts she had done to take care of Eddie along with Jon and Hayley. She felt that all her efforts have been wasted, despite the more success of raising Jon and Hayley."

They continued with the conversation on Edward along with what they can find about his upbringing and other issues that could explain the motives. Alex agreed to stop by at the station for visiting with his son along with more questioning and paperwork. Upon their arrival at the station, Chief Bogo informed Nick and Judy that Edward had attacked one of the officers, a prey one obviously, and had to detain in special detention chair, which disappointed Alex greatly but asked Nick and Judy not to mention this to Molly because of her emotional breakdown. They went down to the detention section, went to the visiting room. Soon, the officer pushed Edward in his detention chair. It was a sight that Alex had hoped not to see. He sighed deeply, looked at his old friend.

"Nicky," Alex said, "Thanks for all your help and I want you to stay with me here while I talk to Eddie."

"Sure," Nick agreed and brought the second chair, turned to Judy, "Want to join us, Carrots?"

"No, you go ahead," Judy said, "From what I heard from Bogo about what he did to the prey officer and I think it's best for me to be out of his sight as I am a prey species. I will meet you upstairs in our office as it's a good opportunity for me to do some paperwork on our cases to give to Bogo."

"No problem,"

Nick and Alex sat at one side of the window separating the visitors and the prisoners while Judy left the visiting room. Nick motioned to Alex to begin. He sighed and picked up the phone on the side. The officer on the other side picked up the phone and hold it next to Edward's ear.

"Eddie," Alex began but Edward interrupted him, "I don't care what you are going to say to me. And don't you call me 'Eddie' anymore! I am Adolf now!" which angered Alex.

"You listen to me, boy," Alex snarled, "No matter what name you want to call yourself this day, you are always 'Eddie' to me and YOUR family! Your own parents were great friends with some prey species and it was your mother who introduced your aunt to me as she was the daughter of your mother's good friend! Do you know what you did to your dear aunt when she finds out about your joining that stupid group, SPS? I have never seen her crying that bad in my own life! You have broken her heart!"

Edward laughed as Nick and Alex watched him with disgust. "Good!" Edward squealed, "I can't wait for her to cry to death and I can enjoy that meal with my friends!" He laughed at the idea with glee. Alex got up and punched him but got stopped by the thick bulletproofed glass. He screamed in pain as Nick pulled him away from the window while clinching his painful right paw.

"Calm down, Alex," Nick said as he kept restraining his old friend while the other officers, a jaguar, assisted him in holding the angry gray fox back as Edward continued his laughter. Nick turned toward Edward, groaned, and turn to his fellow officer holding Alex back. "You got Alex, Riggs?" The officer nodded. Nick let him go as Riggs kept a hold on him.

"That was very stupid to say in here, Eddie," Nick snarled, "There are cameras and recording devices in here! They can be used against you in your case! Do you want to spend the rest of your life in prison?!"

"So what?!" Edward said, "The SPS is superior and will break me free out of your inferior station! We are ready to take on Zootopia! We will make the city a prey-free city with hunting and big meals for all of us predators! Starting with those inferior deaf kids! We don't need them in our society! Wait and see! We will be ready when that school goes boom!"

Nick stood as he looked back at Alex and Riggs. "Shit! Wait here!" He ran out the room to Bogo's office, opened it to see Bogo and Judy in the room.

"What it is, Officer Wilde," Bogo asked as Judy looked on.

"Get those kids evacuate out of that school now!" Nick yelled, "There's a bomb in there somewhere! Do it quick!"

At that moment, few miles away from the station, there was a massive explosion at the school.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

It was too late.

Bogo, Judy, and Nick looked out the office's window and saw a giant black smoke in the distance, a sure sign of an explosion aftermath. Bogo left the office with Nick and Judy following him over to Clawhauser's reception desk in the lobby.

"Clawhauser! Gimme that mike and have it address to everyone in the station and out in the field!" Bogo ordered. Clawhauser complied and gave the microphone to Bogo as Nick and Judy stood by.

"To all officers! This is Chief Bogo. We are at Red Alert now! Go to Zootopia School for the Deaf for terrorism disaster procedures! Repeat. This is Chief Bogo. We are at Red Alert now! Go to Zootopia School for the Deaf for terrorism disaster procedures! Go! Get over there now!"

Bogo handed back the microphone as Clawhauser gasped in shock. "Go alert the hospitals and fire departments as well as off-duty officers, Clawhauser," he barked and turned to Nick.

"Did that kid mentioned about the bomb just a moment ago, Wilde?" Bogo asked as Judy stared at Nick.

"Yes, Chief," Nick answered, "He said 'school goes boom' and I knew immediately that there is a danger."

"Damn!" Bogo said, "That kid did not mention that during our interrogation earlier before you arrived. He was withholding that information from us!"

Judy gasped and Nick and Bogo turned to her. "What is it, Carrots?" Nick asked.

"Maria!" Judy exclaimed, "We got to go to school and see if –" she trailed off, Nick understood.

"Who is Maria?" Bogo asked. Nick answered before Judy could, "She's a deaf daughter of Hopp's neighbor in Bunnyhollow. She goes to that school. Can we go there and check, Chief?"

"Go ahead, I'll join you there in a moment. You two take over the responsibility of clearing out the place, keep the media out of danger, and have the ambulances and fire department to coordinate with you till I get there. I will tell your friend, Alex, what happens and he can go home if he wants. I got to ask that kid some more questions before I go," Bogo said as he walked quickly toward the detection center.

Nick and Judy rushed to their patrol car with Nick taking the wheel, turned on the siren and drove as fast as he could to the school. They arrived at the school in less than 5 minutes than the usual 20 minutes. What they saw was unreal as it looks like a war zone at the school. Ambulances and fire trucks were already there from nearby stations. As soon as Nick parked the patrol car, Judy said to Nick, "You go take care of things here while I go look for Maria!" He nodded as she got out and ran to the first school staffs she saw.

"Does anybody know where Maria Bunhill is?" Judy asked. The person shook her head. She groaned and ran into the building, or what left of it from the explosion, and found Ms. Redtail sitting at one of the debris just outside the front door, she ran to her.

"Ms. Redtail! Do you know what happened to Maria Bunhill?" she asked frantically. Ms. Redtail pointed her finger at her ear. "Say that again, officer," Redtail said, "my ear is ringing from that explosion so I can't hear you clearly." Judy sighed and repeated the question more clearly.

"Oh! Last I checked," Redtail answered, "she was in either in the lunchroom with rest of classmate or at playground over there," she point at the other side of the building. She thanked him and ran toward the direction that Redtail pointed at. As she ran, she saw some bodies amid some debris, fearing that one of them might be Maria. After quick checks that confirmed that they weren't Maria but felt sad and hurt for the victims as she continued her way toward the said playground. She saw a group of surviving children with some EMTs and teachers in the playground, she ran to them. As she got closer, one of the young rabbits broke rank and ran toward her. Judy recognized the rabbit as Maria and ran to hug her tightly.

Maria screamed and Judy let her go, concerned, "Are you hurt?" she asked verbally, groaned, forgetting that the girl was deaf, signed "hurt" to her to which she nodded and pointed at her side. She saw that there was a bandage on the side. She turned to one of the EMTs, a male raccoon, "How many kids are there?"

The EMT took a quick count and answered, "About 40 kids or so but there may be more inside some of the buildings and we dare not go inside until the firefighters clear it."

"Okay, I saw some bodies when I came through here," Judy said as she pointed at the place she was in recently."

"Yes, we saw some and checked their pulses on the way. No pulse so we had to leave it there and focus on other survivors here," the EMT said.

Judy looked around and saw the other open space between the surviving buildings, turned to the EMTs.

"Okay, are the kids and teacher able to walk?" Judy asked, "Any major injuries?"

"Most have suffered only minor injuries and couples or three are hurt badly but not life-threatening," the other EMT, a female lion, answered, "They were lucky to be here at the playground when the explosion happened. Most of the blasts were on the other side of the buildings here so the sides facing the playground have shielded the kids from the blast except for that section where you came through. One of the teachers here said that they had just left the cafeteria after lunch which was in that building where you came through when the blast occurred. Those three with the more serious injuries were close to that area when that happened. Some of us came in through that open area between those two buildings while the other EMTs came through the same place you came through," She pointed at the same open area that Judy noticed just moments ago. She sighed.

"All right, we need to get everyone out of here through that open area and meet with my partner, Officer Wilde," Judy said with firm voice, "He'll show you where to go so you can reunite the kids with their families as I am sure they are worry and on the way here now. We need to get out of here before any more explosion as there is a possibility that they will happen here in the playground. Any questions or concerns before we go?"

The teachers and EMTs shook their heads and Judy lead the group out of the playground toward the open area. The kids and teachers went through space, following the raccoon EMT at the lead between the buildings while Judy stays behind, directing the kids through space. Suddenly, there was another explosion on the other side of the playground and Judy grabbed the lion EMT, who was the last person in the group, out of the danger and a piece of sharp debris fell on the spot where the lion was at a just a moment ago. The lion and Judy looked at each other, sighed with relief, got up, and ran to the other end to join the others.

The group arrived at the parking lot in front where Nick was busy coordinating with other officers, firefighters, and EMTs. There were yellow tapes surrounding the place. Judy knew that the safe area was on the other side of the tape so she held up the tapes to let the kids through the tape, out of dangers. Then the teacher, a jaguar, held up the tape higher as she's taller than Judy to let the taller animals through.

Nick saw Judy coming toward him, holding Maria's hand. He sighed in relief that she's out of danger.

"I heard the explosion just moments ago and I had hope that you got out of danger which I am glad to see that you did, Carrots," Nick said, "I see that you got Maria out too. Some parents are here now but I did not have a chance to talk to them as other officers are busy to keep them in a safe place. Got one of the rabbits from running into the building when that explosion happened. The other officer just took that rabbit back to safe zone."

Judy took a double look at Nick's face. "What?" Nick asked as Judy focused on the scratch mark on his left side of the muzzle. "Is that how you got this scratch from that rabbit?" Judy asked.

Nick looked at Judy in confusion, touched his left side of his muzzle, felt the scratch, and groaned. "Oh, damn, I didn't realize that she scratch it as I was busy preventing her from going to that building. She was trying to get away from me when there was another explosion and we both fell down. She must have scratched me that time."

"Ah, of course," Judy said with a smile, "Worried mothers are the most dangerous animal in any tense situation, even small prey such as rabbit."

"Of course, Carrots," Nick retorted, "Right now, we are trying to keep those 'dangerous mothers' out of danger which is not an easy task! Bogo just called saying that he's running late as he got some more information from Edward and others. He said that the situation is more serious than he expected and is calling the governor for military assistance in this matter. Also, the bomb squad just arrived to find some more bombs on campus."

"Great! Just great!" Judy growled, "Just what we need, the army! This is getting out of hands! One of the EMTs and teachers said that there are some more kids inside some of other buildings," she gestured toward the buildings.

"We know," Nick said, "We have sent some officers to find them. And the Headmaster, Mr. Buckbrook, was severely injured by the explosion and has been airlifted to the hospital recently. Two or three teachers and some – I don't know how many – kids also were injured and were taken by some ambulances already. More are coming in from other buildings. The crisis response bus is here to handle the injured now." He pointed at the red and white bus nearby.

Several officers and EMTs were busy with children and keeping while reassuring the frantically parents from danger, and some kids were reunited with their family. Judy looked at the mass of parents in the safe zone, looking for familiar faces who were Maria's parents as she held Maria's paws.

"I guess that Maria's parents are not here yet because Bunnyhollow is few hours' drive from here so Maria will have stay with me till they come," Judy said to Nick, who agreed. She bent down to Maria and signed, "You stay with me till your parents arrive. Okay?" Maria understood, nodded, and hugged Judy, who smiled at her, hugged back for a moment, and then got up. She took the girl to one of her patrol cars.

"Wait here. I help others," Judy gestured. Maria nodded. She got up and yelled at one of nearest officers to come over. She instructed the officer to stay with Maria for a bit while she went to help Nick with coordinating. She turned back to Maria and gestured, "I come back later."

She returned to where Nick was and noticed that he was talking frantically on his phone, then ended the call and cursed.

"What happened?" Judy asked.

"Bogo said that the officer in traffic cam control just informed him that some armed animals in trucks and cars are coming toward the school. He thinks that it's SPS terrorists," Nick answered.

Before Judy could reply, two trucks crashed through the gate and several animals – mostly cats – got out of trucks' beds with weapons and pointed at the group. The black panther got out of the car behind the trucks, walked pass the truck and yelled, "Which of you is the headmaster of this school?"

Nick stood tall and answered, "He was inside that building when that thing exploded. He was taken by the helicopter to the hospital in serious condition and we don't know whether he lives or not. Who are you?"

The panther growled, "I am your new Fuhrer, you puny skanky!" as the other predators cocked their guns and pointed at Nick and the others as the third explosion was heard in the distance.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Nick and Judy stood still as the SPS terrorists captured the school campus as some terrorists left rank into the surviving and ruined buildings to capture anyone hiding there. Nick looked around at the parents and children behind them. They were terrified by the guns pointing at them. Judy pondered what to do next to defuse the situation without harming the innocents. They know that they are now the hostage to whatever the SPS was planning to do. Judy had noticed that while Nick was talking to the so-called 'Fuhrer' just a moment ago, he had dialed the phone to Bogo behind his back, left it open and put it in his back pocket. She knew that Bogo was hearing everything that was going on and, most likely, preparing something as well as informing the incoming army of what was happening. They were waiting for the SPS's leader's next action as he was barking orders to his men.

After a few tense minutes, the black panther raised his right paw up as he holding the megaphone up with his left paw. "All right," the fuhrer said, "Since the headmaster is not here which we had hoped to eat him for a grand banquet tonight as he's deservedly a prey." The Zootopians gasped at the idea. Judy waved at them to be quiet to prevent provoking the terrorists. Nick turned to Judy and back to the leader, saying nothing.

"We seek a prey replacement for our banquet tonight! Come and take your rightful place as the prey!" the leader barked.

"No!" Nick yelled back bravely, "We, the Animals of Zootopia, do not recognize your claim as 'the Fuhrer' and your planned action is an act of murder which carries the punishment of life sentence for not only you but also your so-called army!"

"Murder?!" the leader laughed, "It is not a murder if it's a prey! We have the right to hunt and eat the prey! You, of all the predators, should know that!"

"I may be a predator but we are civilized and we eat fish and such," Nick resorted, "but not our fellow animals, preys or predators, with similar intelligence levels! Heck, one of my best friends is a prey and my fox friend have married a prey species, and I would protect them from the likes of you!"

"Ah!" the leader smiled, "Now, I remember your face from the news! You are that fox, Mr. Wilde, that helped solve the savage case last year! And that bunny next to you must be your partner, Hopps. I take it that Ms. Hopps is your new 'best friend', eh?"

Nick began to say something but Judy interrupted, "Now that you mentioned the 'news', I have been wondering why your face seems familiar to me until I just remember reading something about your father while I was at the academy as I was doing research for history classes because I chose your father's case as my subject. You are Jason Negrocat. Your father was a Naxi officer, Rudolf Negrocat, who escaped after the war until the police caught him in South Pangeria about 20 or 25 years ago and brought him to trial in Rabitopia. You tried to free your father from prison but you failed and escaped and hide until now! There has been reports that you are leading the SPS group and involved in terrorism acts, including murders of some rabbits here in Zootopia. Am I right?"

Everyone on both sides gasped in surprise at Judy's knowledge about the SPS leader. Nick and Judy knew that Bogo would have heard her through Nick's opened phone. Good, that means that Bogo would relay the answer to who was behind the situation to the army and the governor, as well as recording it for use in court.

"What a bold statement from an inferior bunny!" Negrocat resorted, "Now, I want to take a moment to express my thanks for 'volunteering' to be our rabbit stew for the banquet tonight. My precious father told me it was very delicious and gave me his recipe for it."

Before the terrorists could do anything, Nick, two other canine officers, and a lion EMT quickly ran and surrounded Judy to shield her from harm by the terrorists. The EMT yelled, "This brave bunny has just saved my life from the second explosion just a moment ago and I will not let you or anyone harm her or any of the children!"

"Officer Wilde!" said a familiar voice. Nick turned around, looking for the source. Judy did the same. "Where are you, Chief?" Nick asked.

"Still on your phone in wherever pocket it's in! But pretend to talk to Hopps or whoever next to you," the voice said. Nick and Judy looked at each other and nodded.

"I hope you got something, Chief," Nick answered while looking toward Judy, "You heard that idiot's comment about 'rabbit stew' so we could use a miracle from you guys as we are in a tight spot now."

"We do," Bogo replied, "The Army Huey is on the way now so try to stall him. There will be some smokes between you guys so be prepared and get the kids out of here." The officers and EMTs nodded in agreement with Nick and Judy.

"Got it, Chief," Nick smiled, winked his eye at Judy, "Let's hustle, sweetheart."

"Hey, you Furher doofus!" Nick yelled as Negrocat growled in anger at the insult. "I want to ask you something!"

"Don't you dare call me that, you skanky! And what would that be?" Negrocat asked.

"You called me 'shanky' so I get to call you 'doofus' in return so we're fair!" Nick retorted as Judy groaned with her paw covering her eyes, "Anyway, you mentioned the 'rabbit stew' recipe that your daddy got long ago. Are you aware that by mentioning this, you have provided evidence that your father had committed some serious crimes against animality?"

Negrocat laughed, "My father committed some 'serious crimes against, what that word you just said, 'animality', is that what you are saying?" he laughed again, "We commit no such crimes! Preys are inferior and we do not recognize them as equal at all! We are superior! We are the predators and we have the right to hunt and eat the preys. You preys have no rights to live among us! We will gather the prey and sort them to the slaughterhouse for the predators! You, as a predator species, are welcome to join us unless you rather join them to the slaughterhouse with your so-called 'best friends'!"

Nick growled, "You are wrong! We are both equal and have same intelligence level. We are not your subject to do what you wish to do! We are our own animals! And –" He was interrupted by the sounds of the army helicopters as they dropped the smoke screening grenades between the terrorist and the Zootopians.

Nick and Judy knew that it was time to get every animal out of dangers so they, the canine officers and EMTs rushed to lead the parents, teachers, and children out of the school campus while the second waves of the Hueys fired at the terrorists. Someone yelled, "Break down the fence! We gonna get out now!" Some of the big animals – elephants and rhinos – complied and broke down the fences so the rest can escape. Judy noticed the buses were already on the street on the other side of the fence, waiting for the kids, teachers, and parents to escape. Nick and Judy stayed to make sure every animal got out of the campus. Maria, however, ran to Judy and clung to Judy's midsection.

Judy sighed and looked down to Maria, signed, "You go there now!" and pointed toward the buses. Maria shook her head and clung her midsection harder that made her gasped. Nick heard her, turned to them. He walked to them and knelt next to Maria.

As Nick did not know sign language so he has to gesture to her so she could understand him. He pointed at Maria and mimic walking, pointed at the bus. He pointed at Judy and himself and crossed his arm to symbolize 'safe' but Maria still shook her head and signed, "No, I want to stay with Judy." Maria signed the 'J' on her chest. Nick looked at Judy.

"I think she wants to stay with me as she used the 'J' on the chest as combined 'police' and 'J' signs to stand for my name," Judy answered Nick's unasked question.

Nick looked at Maria, stood, and turned to see the buses at the street and was surprised to see the familiar small fox helping the children getting on the bus. He got an idea, turned to Judy and said, "Of course! Finnick!" Judy was puzzled but he continued, "Finnick mentioned long ago that he took some sign language class in school long ago when I saw him signing a bit to sell some pawsicles to some deaf folks few times. He can help with Maria as he got a soft heart for kids."

"Great idea!" Judy said and signed to Maria, "See that little fox with big ears?" she pointed at Finnick. Maria looked at him and signed "Who he?".

Nick knelt again and gestured to Maria by grasping both his paws together to symbolize 'friend' and pointed at Finnick and then pointed at himself and then at Judy. He pointed at his forehead and gesture signing.

Maria looked at Nick, then at Finnick who was still busy gathering children into one of the buses and then back at Judy, who nodded.

Maria smiled and nodded.

When the last kids and teachers got out, one of the officers, a hippo, informed them that they had managed to get all the kids and teachers out of the surviving buildings and were out of campus toward the waiting buses.

"Great job, officer," Nick said as Maria was still clinging Judy's midsection as she was attempting to explain to go with Finnick. As Judy was unwrapping the deaf rabbit from her midsection, someone shot the hippo and he fell down as Nick turned to see that the smoke has cleared up and saw one of the terrorist holding the rifle at them – likely the one who shot the hippo – and he picked up his gun and shot him back and he fell down. Out of blue, someone grabbed Nick down as Judy unwrapped Maria, yelled at the lion EMT, "Take Maria to Finnick, the fennec fox!" and threw the rabbit toward her who caught her safely and took the crying rabbit out of danger as someone knocked Judy down from behind. Everything went black.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 _Drip Drip Drip_

There were quiet voices talking that Judy cannot make out what was being said. Then she remembered the event at school and was knocked out. The terrorists! She bolted upright so fast that the IV needle got disconnected, causing pain and her scream. There are some people surrounding her in what appeared to be a hospital room. She recognized Chief Bogo, Officer Jason Clawhauser, and the lion EMT, who were all staring at her because of her scream of pain. She listened for the source of the dripping sound and found that it was from the IV bottle as one of the nurses, a female deer, entered the room and reattached the IV back to her left arm. She noticed that Nick was not in the room.

"What happened?" Judy asked, "I thought I was a goner and become a 'rabbit stew'. And, where is Nick?"

"It was Emily who did the rescuing," Clawhauser answered, "I punched the one who hit your head from behind with his rifle butt. Husky and I fought some more cats while Emily took you out. Husky tried to get Wilde but was ambushed by other cats and I managed to get Emily and you out in time before the Army paratroopers arrived and all hell broke loose. So, Wilde and Husky are MIA as this time."

"Emily?" Judy asked. The lion EMT answered, "That was me, Emily Leon. We never had a chance to introduce to each other. You have saved my life earlier and, I had just saved yours. We are now even."

"Oh, Thank you, Miss Leon," Judy said.

"You are welcome," the lioness reply, "Call me Emily."

"Okay, got it," Judy smiled, "How long was I out?"

"About 3 hours," Emily answered.

Judy looked around the room again. "Where's Maria?" she asked.

"I got her to Finnick, explained to him that you two are friends and came back for you," Emily answered, "He calmed her down with his signing. I believe that she is still with him down at the Zootopia Convention Center with other kids. The parents are meeting the kids there."

"What about the school and those terrorists?" Judy asked, "And Husky and N – I mean, Wilde?"

"The Army are taking care of that for us as we speak," Bogo said as he crossed his arms, "Last I heard there was still some fighting over there. It's all over the media now. It was lucky for us that we got every kid out of there safely. No one left behind except Husky and Wilde. We glad that you did not end up as a 'rabbit stew' for the Naxi scums if it wasn't for them. Since both Husky and Wilde are predator species, they should be okay for the time being."

Judy could not prevent herself from crying so she grabbed her legs and cried. "Oh, Nick," she cried quietly. She gasped as someone hugged her and noticed it was Emily, who hugged her gently.

"It's all right, Hopps," Emily soothed, "From what I heard from others that both Husky and Wilde are tough because of their hardship in the past. I heard that Wilde could make some good hustles so hopefully, he could hustle his way out or something. I am sure they will be fine."

Judy nodded as she wiped her tears from her eyes. "Sorry, guys," Judy said and they waved her away, saying it was all right.

"Are you close to Officer Wilde?" Emily asked. Judy opened her mouth but Clawhauser interrupted, "Yes, they are couples. My cousin, Ben, told me about them."

"Really?" Emily remarked, "That's cool. One of my cousins married a tiger but not a prey species."

"Yes, they developed a special bond when Wilde helped her with that Savage case couple years ago."

Judy's face grew red as she had enough of it.

"Okay, that's enough, Chewhauser!" Judy resorted. "It's my private life! And, I am going to have a serious talk with that cousin of yours!" Everyone, except Clawhauser and Judy, laughed heartily.

"All right!" Bogo barked and everyone looked at him. "I think it's time for us to take a leave and give Hopps some rest." He turned directly to Judy, "You take the rest of today and tomorrow off so give yourself some rest, you hear?"

"Yes, and what about –" Judy began but Bogo cut her off, "Don't worry, Hopps. The army is aware of our missing officers and is looking for them there. It will be awhile, so take it easy, all right?"

Bogo gestured at Chewhauser to leave the room. The nurse also left but told Judy that she would be there whenever she needs her; she nodded to the nurse as Emily stayed.

"Judy – Can I call you 'Judy'?" Emily began and Judy nodded, "Don't be embarrassed about your relationship with Wilde. I have heard about your Savage case and it's really awesome that you two work so well together. I can tell that you love him. I hope the army will find him soon."

"Yea, thanks," Judy said with a sigh, "But I'm worried about him. I don't know what I can do without him."

"Okay, tell me a bit about Maria," Emily said so she could distract her from Nick, as she crossed her arms, "Is she your relative or what?"

"Oh, no," Judy laughed, "She's my neighbor's deaf daughter in my hometown, Bunnyhollow. I've known her family since I was a kid. I had played with her older siblings when we were kids before Maria was born. I am not that close to her but as we both live in Zootopia, I'm the only one she knows outside of school in town."

"Ah, I got it and what about this Finnick?"

"He's Nick's friend," Judy answered, "When I first met him, I thought he was Nick's son because of his height. Long story."

"Oh, how do you know he knows sign language?"

"Nick told me about it just before I handed her to you at that school, I didn't know until that moment. I'm glad that Nick thinks quick on the spot so we were able to get her to safely and he was able to keep her calm."

"Ah," Emily said as she uncrossed her arms and lean against the bed's edge. "While you were out, Bogo mentioned that they will add obstruction of justice charges against Edward for withholding information about bombs at school as well as accomplices to those Naxi group. They are gathering some more information on Edward from Nick's friend, Alex. Do you know them?"

"Oh, damn," Judy moaned, "I know them. Alex is Nick's close friend from childhood. Edward is Alex's nephew. It's hard for Alex, his wife, and Nick as they are close, from what I heard from Nick."

"Oh, speaking of his wife…" Emily pondered, "Is it true that she is a prey species because Bogo mentioned something about threatening life against his wife?"

"Yes, she is," Judy answered with a smile. "She's a Capybara. She has helped Alex with the upbringing of Edward and despite all those hard works, he always ended up in wrong crowds and, eventually, joined the SPS group. Alex and Molly have two own children and they turned out just fine. I met them recently and they are a charming family with a 'bad seed'."

"Oh, I can't imagine that!" Emily said, "I wonder why this is happening to such family."

Judy laid back on her bed, pondering about them. "I wonder what would I do if that happens to me. Must be difficult, especially for Molly."

"Yes," Emily agreed, "Do you think you will be able to get out and go visit your deaf friend at the Convention?"

"We have to check with the doctor to see if I can check out or not first."

"Okay, want me to go and get the doctor or the nurse for you so you can check out sooner. Then we can –" Emily began but got interrupted by Clawhauser storming into the room.

"Quick!" Clawhauser said, "Turn on ZNN!"

Emily grabbed the remote control and turned on TV. There was a breaking news on ZNN.

"– and we are awaiting for their video as the SPS terrorists are sending to us to our email. We should – just a moment," the newscaster said as someone from the side handed them the paper and resumed,"Okay, we have just received a streamed video from the SPS terrorist occupying at Zootopia School for the Deaf," the newscaster said, "We need to warn you that this video may offend or cause distress to you and family. Here it is…"

The video came on, there were two knelt blindfolded officers with bonded paws behind – Judy recognized the shorter one as Nick. Two cats holding them as the Fuhrer looked at the camera.

"Our brave soldiers have captured these traitorous predator police officer," the leader said, "We have demanded that they join us and they refused. So, we have judged and found them to be guilty of treason against us and we demand that your government bow to me as your Fuhrer within the next 60 minutes. Otherwise, these two traitors will die without honor and become our banquet tonight!"

"NOOOOO!" Judy yelled as she jumped off the bed, disconnecting the IV from her arm again, cutting her arm but Judy ignored the pain as Emily held her tightly and Bogo and the nurse returned to the room.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Calm down, Hopps," Chief Bogo said calmly as the news continued with the video while Emily still holding Judy as the nurse put the bandage on her left arm where the IV needle was attached and cut.

"In addition," the terrorist leader in the video continued, "the headmaster of this inferior school and the deaf prey children are to bring back here by tonight to join this traitorous predator for our victory banquet tonight. We demand our right of superiority over preys! Sieg Heil!"

The leader and the big cats gave the Naxi salutes while the blindfolded police officers, Husky, and Nick were still held by the terrorists as the video ended. The news returned to the stunned newscasters. They did not say anything for a moment in shock before one of the anchors, Peter Moosebridge, composed himself, turned toward the camera.

"W – well, t-that's what the SPS terrorists had demanded," Moosebridge stammered in shock at first before speaking smoothly, "We should hear from the Governor and the Mayor regarding this demands shortly."

Judy and the others stared at TV in dismay for a moment. Bogo coughed to get their attention.

"All right, everybody," Bogo began, "Seems that we got a lot of things to do to rescue our officers as well as to find a way to end this madness. I have some ideas but I would appreciate any suggestion from you guys."

Judy walked over to Bogo and looked up, "With respects, Chief," Judy said firmly, "The heck with the day off. I want to help free Officer Wilde and Husky and I would appreciate any assistance in this action. I won't take 'no' for an answer and I am very determined to resolve this crazy situation."

Bogo looked down at Judy, as he folded his arms, and pondered a moment, before speaking, "I remember your determination in solving the missing mammal/savage case couple years ago, so I am giving you the assignment to rescue our officer and…," Bogo paused, as Judy silently cheered, "You also need to coordinate with the Army so you would need to obey their command system, clear?"

"Yes, sir," Judy agreed. "And, I may have some ideas so I would need Finnick's help. Will you let him join us in this situation?"

"Of course, permission granted," Bogo said as Emily walked toward him and stood next to Judy, saying, "Sir, I would like to volunteer to help out and we never know that they may need medical attention so I want to be prepared for it as I am trained EMT."

"Count me in!" Chawhauser chimed in before Bogo could reply.

"All righty, Y'all can help Officer Hopps but you need to keep in contact with us at all time," the Chief said. "All right?"

"Yes, sir," everyone declared.

About fifteen minutes later, Judy, Jason, and Emily left the hospital together in Jason's police cruiser and went to find Finnick and Maria at the convention center. The place was filled with many animals. As soon as the trio entered, some of the worried parents rushed to them, begging for some answers and whereabouts of their loved ones. Jason, the tallest of the trio, held his paws up.

"All right!" Jason yelled, "All right! Settle down! We are not here to answer or to assist y'all with anything! Y'all have to go to information booth or something! We understand your concerns but we are just here to pick someone up and we go on our way out. All right?"

The other animals sighed in disappointments and went out of the way as the trio walked pass toward the information booth at one end. They apologized for getting in the line as they were in urgent matters. Judy arrived at the booth first and asked one of the police officers, a male zebra.

"Hello," Judy said, "Do you know where the fennec fox named Finnick who is with a deaf rabbit are?"

The zebra looked at the iPad for a moment, turned back to Judy, "Last time we checked, he was in the food court area at that corner that away." He pointed at the said corner. "Otherwise, he is assigned to area E next to the food court. Hope you find them, Officer."

"Thanks a bunch!" Judy beamed and the trio went over to the food court to find Finnick. When they arrive there, there was no sign of him or the little deaf rabbit girl in the food court so they backtracked a little bit to the assigned area E and found them sitting on one of the cots, signing. Maria saw Judy and ran to her before Finnick could react.

"Judy!" Maria signed as Finnick walked toward the trio, "Where's Mom?"

"Her mom is not here yet?" Judy said to Finnick who shook his head and said, in a low voice, "I saw the news with Nick. Made me mad and I wish I could do something to get him out."

Judy looked at him and back to Jason and Emily, returned to fennec fox with a big smile. "Actually, you are the first person I thought to include in our rescue mission so you are coming with us."

"You're joking!" Finnick said as he crossed his arms.

"No hustle, Toot Toot!" Judy said, confusing the others as only Finnick knew whom she meant as they met while Finnick was in elephant costume the first time.

"All right, Officer Toot Toot," Finnick said, still confusing the others, "We have a problem. Who is gonna watch over Maria while we are gone?"

As if on cue, the female bunny came behind the trio and Maria saw her, beaming. "'Opp!" shocking Judy and turn to see her mother came down to hug Maria.

"Mom!" Judy gasped, "What are you doing here? Where's Mrs. Bunhill?"

"Oh, they are in Zooston for one of their sons' tour at his work at NASA and couldn't get a plane ticket in time so they asked me to come and get Maria while they fly back tomorrow as it's the earliest available flight out of Zooston."

"Oh," Judy sighed, turned to Finnick, "I guess that answered your question, right?"

"Yes, I guess I am ready now," Finnick began but Bonnie interrupted, turned to Judy, "Honey, am I to guess that you are going somewhere, why couldn't someone else take care of it instead of you?"

"Mom, I have to do this," Judy said, "We need to get Nick and others out of danger soon."

"Nick?" Bonnie asked, "What happened to Nick?"

"Haven't you heard on the news, Mom?"

"No, I just arrived as soon as the terrorist attacked the school and Mrs. Bunhill called me to come here to take Maria. Why?"

Judy sighed and before she could say anything, Jason chimed in, "Officer Wilde and Officer Husky have been captured by the terrorists at Zootopia School for the Deaf and we are mounting the rescue mission."

"Judy!" Bonnie exclaimed, "Do you mean to tell me that you are going on that rescue mission? Don't you know it's dangerous and – "

Finnick interrupted Bonnie, "Ma'am, this bunny is very resourceful and stubborn bunny cop and Nick told me countless of times of how Judy saved his tail on the job. From what Nick told me, he would not trade anyone for Judy on saving his life on any important assignments since – oh – I guess I have to break my promise to him but you need to promise not to tell anyone before I continue."

Bonnie and Judy looked at him and then to each other, they agreed as Emily said, "I'll take Maria to get something to eat so y'all have a private conversation." They agreed as Emily asked Maria, "Want to get something to eat before we go?" while gesturing eating and Maria agreed to go with her. Emily took Maria to the food court. Now, they are alone before Finnick resume.

"All right," Finnick began, "I have known Nick since we were soldiers in the same unit during the Iraq war several years ago and – "

Judy interrupted him. "What? I didn't know you two were in the war together. He never told me about it."

"Not surprising," Finnick resumed as he crossed his arms, "It's not something to be proud of because that war was based on the lie created by previous President. The economy was so bad that Nick could not hustle anyone to support himself so he had to join the army. That's where we first met. We have to save each other on several occasions during the war. We had two tours before returning home when the new president reduced the troops. Nick has regretted it since he got home because of the war started on a lie. He promised that he would never mention this to anyone. Since I had no family so I joined my army 'brother' to Zootopia and been hustling with him until you came to his life and changed him for the better. Now I know that Nick would not trust anyone but Judy or me to save his life. Ever since I met her couple years ago, I have found her to be very unusual bunny as she's very sly and smart, like a fox, and I have learned to trust in Officer Toot To – I mean, Officer Hopps. , you should trust her too"

"All right, I understand, Mister - ?" Bonnie said.

"Call me Finnick, Mrs. Hopps."

Judy turned, bend down a bit to Finnick, grabbed him by his shirt and said, "When this is over, you and Nick had better tell me everything from that war! I mean it, Toot Toot!"

"All right!" Finnick said, "All right! We will do that, okay?"

"Good," Judy said as she let him go, turned to her mother, "Okay, Mom, let go get Maria and we'll be on our way."

The group walked over to the food court area and found Emily and Maria sitting at one of the tables. They noticed that Maria had a cookie. Emily saw them.

"Y'all ready to go now?" Emily asked.

"Yes, we are and thanks for watching Maria for a bit," Judy said as Bonnie sat next to Maria as she's not done with eating cookies. Finnick walked over to Maria, signing something to her that Judy has a hard time understanding their fast signing. Maria understood, signed quickly and hugged him. He returned the hug.

"Thank you for taking your time to come and get Maria, Mom," Judy said to her mother. "I wish that it was in the better situation."

"Yes, and be careful honey," Bonnie said. Judy returned the gesture and hugged her, "I will and I love you, Mom."

As the group left the center, Finnick turned to Judy in a low voice so that Emily can't hear, "I assumed that you need my help because of my size, am I right? Go as Nick's baby son dressing as an elephant or something?"

Judy laughed at the memory, "Oh, no, nothing of that sort, Toot Toot. But you are right about one thing, we need you because of your size."

Emily turned to Judy, said in low voice, "What's up with this "toot toot" thing between you and Finnick?" Judy laughed, "Well, it's a long story but it is between us and leaves it at that, okay?"

Finnick sighed in relief upon hearing Judy saying "it's between us" as they walked together toward Jason's cruiser.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Judy did not want to explain the plan to the others until they get inside Jason's cruiser for fear of eavesdropping. Soon, they got in the cruiser with Jason and Emily sitting in front while Judy and Finnick sat in the back. Then, Jason drove his car along the busy Zootopia streets on the way to the army's command center near the school. It was hard to believe that the day was beautiful, sunny and peaceful despite the chaos surrounding the school.

"All right," Judy said to the others, "I was thinking of using the air conditioning system, and I believe that Finnick and I will be able to fit inside because of our small sizes while the others can create some diversion to keep them busy while we get Nick and Hucky out. What do you think?"

"Are you out of your tooting mind, Officer Toot Toot?" Finnick retorted.

"Afraid?" Judy teased as she crossed her arms, "Is our little guy claustrophobic?" which brought laughter from Jason and Emily.

"All right!" Finnick said with annoyance, as he crossed his arms, "But we gonna find where Nick and Hucky are cuz, I sure as hell not gonna end up in their pot of hot soup they are preparing for tonight in a wrong room!"

"Don't worry; we will gather some information from the army and determine where we go. They also have some equipment such as night goggle and other things that we could borrow. Hey, we could do something like that guy did in movie 'Mission Impawssible' – you know – the hanging thing in the secure room?"

"Oh boy!" Finnick groaned as he rolled his eyes as Emily giggled at his reaction.

"Also," Judy added, "We will need Mr. Big's help in this matter. His polar bear bodyguard can make some diversion while we go rescue Nick and Husky."

"Mr. Big?!" Jason exclaimed, "What make you think he'll help a cop like you?"

"I saved his daughter's life couple years ago, so Mr. Big will give me a hand as he has done in missing mammal/savage case."

"Really? I did not know that he helped you with that case. I read your report, and you did not mention him!"

"He has a reputation to keep, so he did not want me to 'spoil' his reputation by helping a cop in solving a case, so I kept it quiet for him."

"Ahh… That would also explain fewer criminal activities in Tundratown in the last couple of years. So, tell me how will they do to help us in this matter?"

"Leave it to us," Judy smiled as she crossed her arm, "They are great at improvisation so they'll think of something that I would not think of. But, promise me that you don't say anything to Bogo."

Others nodded in agreement, as Judy took her iPhone from her pocket, dialed to Fru Fru. After a short discussion, Mr. Big agreed to send two of his best bodyguards, Raymond and Kevin, to meet them at the army command center. Jason and Emily were amazed on how smoothly they worked out together.

Soon, they arrived at the army command center. Mr. Big's bodyguards came just a few minutes after they arrived. Judy introduced her team to the bears. Then the group went to the tent attached to the bus-sized mobile command vehicle, where the commander and other military officials were located. They gathered around the small table in the tent containing what appeared to be the blueprint of the school.

The general, a muscular bison, saw the group entering, walked over to them to greet them.

"Good afternoon and welcome to our command center," the general said, "I assume that you are Officer Hopps and your team, am I right?"

"Yes, sir, General… uh…" Judy said.

"Roamer. Chief Bogo contacted me about your wanting to rescue your fellow officers, and he mentioned about your determination to get your cases resolved, especially your first case – the missing mammal case. He also said your high marks at the academy that rival our tests. So, I am inclined to believe him about your abilities to mount the rescue missions, but I want to add a few of our men to your missions, fair enough?"

"Yes, fair enough, General Roamer," Judy agreed.

"And, the ZIA wants to send in one of its agents –"

"No," Judy interrupted with her eyes frowned, "I don't want that sex-maniac doofus, Agent Savage, because of what he did that almost ruined Nick's and my friendship last year. Besides, Nick would be very furious if Jack is on our team. He will not need the nighthowler dose if he sees that stupid striped bunny."

"Oh, yeah," Jason interjected, "I remember Ben telling me about Nick giving –"

"Shut up, Chewhauser," Judy growled.

"Shutting up, officer," Jason gulped as Finnick giggled. Judy slapped Finnick's back of the head to stop his giggling. Then the polar bears hit Finnick's head in turns. The fennec fox rubbed his back head in annoyance as he looked up at the polar bears. Emily looked confused, as she did not know what happened. Jason shook his head at her as she was about to ask.

Every officer at ZPD remembered the incidents with Agent Jack Savage, and they learned not to mess with an angry bunny cop. Even large mammals stayed away from Judy in her angry state or during her PMS period. Nick was the only person outside of her family who can manage to soothe her down. Savage came at a wrong time – during her PMS, and Savage angered both Nick and Judy with his flirtation with her that has gotten himself a shiner from Nick. Fortunately, Savage decided not to press charge against Nick for assault as it happened during their off-duty time. Despite that he has apologized to both Nick and Judy, they still would not let him near them again.

With that issue aside, Judy introduced her team to the general, and he returned the gesture by adding some of his men – a hippo, grizzly bear, and a couple of cougars by the name of Floater, Wildhoney, Wildcat, and Montana.

Judy proposed her idea of Finnick and her using the ventilation system in the building while the bigger mammals make some diversions to draw some Naxi away from Nick and Husky's location as soon as they confirmed their position. The army provided the night goggles for Judy and Finnick as the vent would be too dark to see clearly along with climbing gears. The cougars would impersonate as Naxi sympathizers. The army soldiers would focus the shooting to keep them busy while the polar bears, Emily and Jason make another diversion to draw more troops away from Nick and Husky's location. The general proposed that cougars would go through the front gate as drunken Naxi supporters to start the diversion.

The general and Judy agreed with the plan and made some minor adjustments to ensure that everything would coordinate more efficiently with everyone. Everyone get the small communication devices that fits inside their ears along with small Bluetooth signalers that alert the teams of any cues, changes, or troubles. The teams, except the cougars, changed into camouflage clothes before going out on the mission.

Time was running out, Judy and Finnick rode with the bears in their limo, went to the other side of the campus to enter undetected over the wire fence, and entered through one of the ventilation system's vents, which located behind one of the large trees that covered their activity from views of other people, especially the Naxi. The bears continued driving away from the campus to meet with one of the army soldiers to enter the camouflaged armored truck with Floater and Wildhoney, turned back to the back of the campus and waited for the cue from Judy before ramming through the fence.

As the rest of the army positioned themselves in strategic spots surrounding the campus. The cougars, wearing offensive pro-Naxi t-shirts, drank a few beers and spelled some beers on their shirt to create an impression that they were drunk. Then they drove like a drunk up to the front gate to 'volunteer' themselves to join the Naxi.

Judy and Finnick put on their night vision goggles and turned it on. They could see the greenish view of the vent clearly now. They waited and listened for the general to start.

Soon, General Roamer's voice heard in their earpieces, "Are everyone in position?"

"Checked," said the first voice, one of the cougar's.

"Wildhoney, here. Checked," said the second voice.

"This is Hopps, checked" Judy said into her mic attached to her earpiece.

"Ready in three," the general voice said. Judy looked at Finnick who give her thumb up.

"One… two… three!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Crash!

The Cougars crashed into the front gate, prompting the Naxi soldiers to take defensive positions as the car hit the parked car. The Cougars came out, singing in drunken voices and laughing. The Naxis took aim at the Cougars as one of the soldiers yelled, "Halt!"

The driver, Wildcat, turned to the sound of gun clicking, banged the top of the car to get his friend, Montana's attention. The Cougars smile drunkenly.

"Thar ya are!" Wildcat thundered, waving his beer bottle wildly, "Aren't y'all gonna introduce me and my buddy to yer boss, we wanna join y'all! Whooo!"

"Hey!' Montana exclaimed drunkenly, "Where's that fox and wolf traitors we saw on the news? Hope y'all cookin' them fer us!"

One of the Naxis yelled, "Stay where you are, or we will shoot you!"

Wildcat held up his paws, "Oh! Sorry about the mess here! We got here as fast as soon as we heard the news so we could to join y'all!"

"Yep," Montana chimed in.

At that moment, more soldiers came out of buildings, including the Fuhrer to see the commotion.

Several meters away, up in one of the high-rises facing the school, General's men observed the situation through their binoculars. One of the men signaled to communication officer who nodded.

"Go," the officer said into the speaker to relay to the team members.

Back at school, in one of the building's vent system, Judy and Finnick heard the go-ahead from the Army. Judy and Finnick looked at each other, nodded, and began to crawl toward the suspected location, making sure not to make any sounds.

They crawled for about fifteen minutes, checking every vent along the way before stopping at the sounds of voices from one of the vents. Judy put a finger to her lip. Finnick nod. They crawled slowly to check the vent.

Below the vent, one of the Naxi soldiers was talking with the other Naxi.

"I hope they get whoever came in the front outta here so we can get some inferior kids in and then we can cook without any more distraction. We are starving!"

A familiar voice chimed in, "You would not like to eat us. You have no idea what we foxes have been eating… bugs and all that gross stuffs. You'll barf."

"Oh baloney, you lying fox!" the other Naxi resorted.

Finnick pinched his cheek hard to prevent him from laughing. Judy looked at him with concerns, but he shook his head. They know that Nick hates eating bugs as he only eats poultry and seafood as oppose to most foxes who are omnivore and insectivore.

"Baloney, you say?" Nick resumed without a beat, "Do you know that in some places, some baloney meat is made from crushed bugs, especially roaches?"

Judy groaned quietly, turned to Finnick, whispered, "How can he say those things in a time like this?"

"It's his way," Finnick whispered, "Been like that since the war. There was a time he was forced to eat some bugs during survival training. Long story."

"Ugh," Judy whispered. "We need to get those Naxi out before Nick says something that'll make me puke."

As if on cue, Husky, being disgusted by Nick's bugs comments, puked on one of the Naxi's feet. Nick and, unbeknown to him, Finnick took the opportunity by pushing open the vent to jump on both Naxi with Judy followed. Husky recovered quickly and headbutted on the puked covered Naxi against the wall as Judy hit his head with her gun, while Nick headbutted the other as Finnick choked the soldier's neck into unconscious.

They doubled checked that both Naxis are out, and Hucky went to the door to listen for any sounds from the hallway. Judy took out a knife from her belt to cut Nick's binds. Finnick went over to Husky to cut his bind and also to listen to the door.

Husky turned to Nick and said quietly, "Remind me next time not to get captured with you by some bad guys. Your bugs talks are disgusting! You know how I hate eating bugs, unlike you foxes!"

"I hate bugs too," Nick said calmly as he took weapons from the fallen Naxi.

"Really?" Husky retorted, "Well, that's –"

"Shhhhh!" Finnick interrupted, held up his paw up to quiet the arguing duo, as he listened to the door. They stood still as they heard the sound of footsteps in the hallway. Finnick motioned to Husky to the other side of the door in case someone come in the door. Nick and Judy quickly dragged the fallen Naxis behind one of the desks to keep out of sight of the door.

Judy took out the walkie out of her belt and muttered, "Chewhauser, go!"

They waited few minutes that felt like an hour as they listen for the footsteps getting closer. Judy took a weapon from other fallen Naxi and threw it to Husky who caught it easily. They wait for either the door opening or polar bears' surprise entrance.

Crash!

The footsteps stopped just short of the door. Someone said to the other, "What's that noise?"

"I dunno, but that's not good. We gonna go check it out. C'mon!" the other said. The footsteps turned into running sound, away from the door. Finnick and Husky sighed in relief. The diversion worked.

Nick looked at Finnick and Judy. "Glad to know that whatever you and Chewhauser cooked on have done the job, Carrot."

"That was Jason and the polar bears using the armored army truck crashing," Judy beamed with pride, "They were waiting for my cue to start the diversion so we can get your tails outta here. So, C'mon and get outta here now before they realized you are gone."

"Right, do we go back to the vent or just go out in the hallway?"

"Husky won't fit in, so we leave the hall. Hope you remember the way out."

Finnick opened the door and checked the hallway.

"All clear," Finnick said, and the others followed him out with Nick leading the way.

Nick stopped at every corner to check for any person, using the small handheld mirror he has swiped from one of fallen Naxi. The way was clear until just before the exit where two Naxi are guarding the exit door. Nick gestured to the other that there were two persons at the door. Finnick got an idea and relayed to the others. Judy did not like the idea until Nick ensured that it would work as long as they can hustle the way out. She sighed.

"All right," Judy said," Let's get it over with."

Finnick took out some clothes out of his backpack. Apparently, Finnick has prepared for such a case. Their experiences of hustling can be beneficial for such situation as they were facing now. He handed it to Husky who hesitated for a moment before accepting it as he has no choice but to follow Finnick and Nick's plan. He put the long lady dress over his head and adjusted it to ensure that it fitted. Finnick handed a pair of "extra-padded" bra in which he put it under the dress. At last, put on the feminine hat. Judy started to giggle at the look, but Nick covered her mouth and said silently, "Shhhh, don't laugh, Carrots." That was close; she almost ruined the plan. Finnick put on baby clothes and the pacifier. Judy covered her mouth to keep herself from laughing. Finnick gave her a 'don't you dare' look.

Finnick motioned to Husky to pick him up and cuddle him like a baby. He sighed quietly and said to Judy and Nick quietly, "Don't you dare mention this to the rest of the cops!" Nick and Judy pinched each other to keep themselves from laughing.

Husky shook his head and sighed, "Let's get this over with, you sly foxes!" and walked around the corner.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

As Nick and Judy listened around the corner, Husky carried Finnick in his arm toward the two guards who stood firm and raised their weapons at them.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" one of the guards demanded.

Husky gasped in a lady-like shriek, "Oh! I - I ha-have been wandering this hall since this happened. Don't hurt my baby and me!" Husky said in a high-pitched feminine voice. Judy started to giggle, but Nick quickly covered her mouth to prevent the sounds from escaping.

The other guard glanced at Finnick, who gave a very convincing loud baby cry. The guard asked Husky, "Is this baby an inferior deaf?"

"W - what?" Husky asked in a feminine voice, "Oh, no. This baby is healthy. One of my kids is deaf here at school. I have been looking for him since this morning. I was visiting him when all this explosion happened, and I hid in one of the audiologists' hearing testing rooms – you know, one of those soundproofed rooms – before I have had chance to meet my poor son. You know how I am scared of bombs. A-and, I just heard that crash sounds, didn't you just hear? I'm scared."

Around the corner, Nick and Judy kept giggling quietly at the conversation, but they both bit their paws to prevent any sounds coming out.

The other guard looked at Husky with lust. Husky stared at him and slapped him.

"Don't you dare to look at me like that, you pervert!" Husky exclaimed in a feminine voice. The second guard laughed and dropped his arm carrying the gun.

"This one is a frisky one, eh?" the second guard sneered as the first one rubbed his cheek.

Judy got an idea, gestured to Nick her plan, and yelled from behind the corner, "No! I am the frisky one!" and motioned at Nick to get ready. He nodded.

"Who's that?" the first guard asked. Judy came out from the corner. "Me, of course!" Judy said in a sexy voice, "Don't you find me tasty, sweetheart?"

"It's that bunny!" the second guard exclaimed, and ran after her. Judy walked casually back behind the corner and quickly put her foot away for the guard to trip over. Finnick and Husky took the opportunity to attack the first guard and overcame him as the second guard tripped over Judy's outreached leg, and Nick knocked him out on the back of his head with the butt of the rifle. Finnick jumped down from Husky's arm and kicked the balls of the shocked guard as Husky knocked him out with a right fist to his head, and then a chop to his back of the neck with right paw, knocking him out instantly.

The quad looked at the unconscious guards and took some weapons from them. Nick turned to Husky, "Congratulation on your winning the Oscar for your awesome performance!" Nick said.

"Oh, shaddap, fox," Husky growled, as he quickly took off the dress and bra, drop it on the floor as if it were on fire. Finnick also took off his baby costume and put them in his back bag along with woman clothes he picked up from the floor.

Nick opened the door and the group came out and, suddenly faced an armor truck arriving just in front of them, unsure whether it's friendly or not, they all raised their paws in case.

Someone opened the vehicles' door. It was Chewhauser who yelled, "Did y'all asked for an armored taxi?"

The quad looked at him and put down their paws in relief and laughter.

Chewhauser waved and yelled, "Y'all better haul your tails in fast before the rest of the Naxi come here! C'mon!"

They went in the truck quickly, and Chewhauser closed the door just in time before the Naxi came and shot at them but the bullets ricocheted from the armored door as Wildhoney stepped on the gas while Floater was manning the rear gun to shoot back at the enemies.

Inside, Nick turned to Chewhauser, "Thanks for your help, Spotty!" as Husky stood face to face with one of the polar bears, unsure of what to say.

Nick, on the other hand, turned to the polar bears, recognized them, and said, "Raymond! Kevin! What a surprise! Did you do this for me?"

Husky turned to Judy, "Am I to guess that they are Mr. Big's bodyguards? How did you manage to get them to help us?

The polar bears grunted as Judy said with glee, "I pulled some favors with Fru Fru, and she sends Raymond and Kevin to help us out with the rescue."

"Ah, of course," Nick replied with disappointment, but Raymond grabbed and rubbed his head. "Hey! Watch it!" Nick exclaimed as Judy giggled.

"Brace yourself for another crash party, lad!" Wildhoney yelled as he sped up toward the fence that separates them from the front entrance where the cougars were still engaging in conversation with the rest of the Naxi. The others took a seat quickly and put together their seat belts.

The ride went from the asphalt of the street to the grassy ground and then crashed through the fence. They got over the fence and running toward the cougars and the Naxi. They shattered away from the armored truck as the Naxi shooting at them while the cougars took cover behind their car. They drove out the front gate to freedom.

Nick recognized the cougars and said to Judy, "Are those cougars from ZPD? One of them looks like Montana to me. What are they doing there?"

"Yes," Judy answered, "Those are Montana and Wildcat who are there as a diversion for us acting like a couple of drunk Naxi sympathizers that crashed through the front gate so they can 'join' their efforts."

"Won't we have to go back and rescue them or what?"

"Nope, You'll see in a moment," Judy answered as she pointed toward the back door's window. Nick went to the window to see scene behind them.

The 'drunken' cougars got up, and Wildcat yelled, "Who are they? Let get 'em!"

Montana went to the nearest Naxi, yelled, "Can I borrow this?" and grabbed the weapon from him before the Naxi could reply, and yelled, "Thanks!" and went to the car, shooting at the escaping armored truck, missing it on purpose as they were still pretending like drunk. They got in the car and ran after the truck with Montana shooting like a bad drunk shooter toward them.

"Damn!" Nick remarked as he watched the action through the window, "I never thought I would see a day that a couple of sharp shooters running after us and missing us on purpose!"

"Of course," Judy said, "and they had to act like a drunk, so they missed us on purpose to show the Naxi that they are 'drunk.' I'm sure that you noticed that they are driving like a drunk."

"Oh!" Nick exclaimed at the window, "They just jumped the curb and nearly hit a couple of otters – looks like our Emmitt and his wife, perhaps?"

"Emmitt!" Judy exclaimed, "We forgot to come and visit them last month! We forgot because o- of… something – uh…"

"That was the burglary/murder case in the Savanna District that came up that time, remember?"

"Oh! That's right! But, we should go and visit them soon!"

"Oh, we will, Carrots. We will. If we come out alive of this Naxi nonsense and –."

Judy was in deep thought. Nick walked from the window and sat next to his partner.

"Penny for your thought, Carrots?" Nick asked.

"I – I just remember something from that case," Judy stammered. "T – there is something familiar about that case."

"Really? How so?"

"Oh my gosh!" Judy jolted, "That soldier we knocked out back in that room! He's that guy what was involved in the case! We are gonna see that artist sketch of the suspect to be sure!"

"Hey…" Nick said calmly, "You know something. While I was in that room with that guy, I had a funny feeling that I had seen this guy from somewhere but I could not recall because I was busy thinking of a way to escape until you and Finnick came down from that vent. I guess you are right about this guy. That case is still open, right?"

"Yes, it is still open," Judy answered, "We should go check it out soon. Maybe that case is connected to our current situation, hmm?"

"That is a possibility, Carrots," Nick smiled with a devilish grin. "Ah, ha! You know what?"

"What, Nick?"

Nick pulled out the gun from his pocket. "This is the gun I pulled out from that guy," Nick answered. "Maybe we could eliminate my prints on the outside as I used it to escape and pull some 'extra' prints out of that gun's clip and bullets inside, and identify this guy and perhaps connect him to that burglary/murder case."

"Perfect!" Judy exclaimed, turned to the others, "Anyone got any clean bag so we can run the gun for prints?"

Nick put on one of the latex gloves and removed the clip from the weapon as Chewhauser got the bag and handed it to Judy. She opened it, and Nick put the clips inside the bag and removed the bullet in the chamber and shell fell into the bag. Then he put the gun inside the bag. Judy closed the Ziploc. Nick took it and put it in one of his pockets for safekeeping.

"Okay, We ne –"

They were interrupted by the siren sound and Nick got up and look out the window. One of the ZPD patrol cars came and pulled over the cougar's car. Nick relayed the situation to Judy.

"Oh," Judy said, "that is the cover up that Bogo devised to fool the Naxi that the police catch them and 'arrest' them for drunk driving. That'll make the Naxi to back off and go back."

"That's mighty clever of Bogo," Nick smiled.

Soon, they arrived at ZPD's main headquarter. As soon as they got inside the underground parking lot connected to the prison to give the media the appearance of bringing the guys in for prison. The animals got out of armored vehicles and they gave each other high fives as they congratulated each other for their success. Soon, the ZPD patrol car with the 'arrested drunk' cougars arrived and they all got out.

The cougars, still in their drunken characters, walked 'drunkenly' toward Nick and Husky, and Montana said, "Hey, look who are here from the clinches of the Naxi!"

They playfully 'attacked' Nick and Husky by tickling them as the rest looked on with laughers.

"ENOUGH!" a firmed voice yelled from the door. They all stop the 'attacks' and laughter and look at their boss, Chief Bogo, folding his arms. "I know you are thrilled at your success, but we got some bad news, get in here and see the news!" he barked. Everyone followed his order and went inside the station.

They noticed a group of animals surrounding a large television. They joined the crowd while Chief Bogo went to a different direction toward the press conference room. Nick and Judy recognized one of the spectators as their friend, Alex. Nick walked to his old friend and asked, "What are you still doing here? I thought you had gone home."

"My wife is downstairs to see Eddie and I were about to go down and get her to go home when this news came on just now," Alex answered.

They turned to the television to see the news.

"… their leader has demanded that the police returned their traitors, Officer Wilde and Officer Husky, who have escaped with the help of the army and the police officers just a few moments ago," the ZNN anchor, Mr. Moosebridges said, "And… just a moment… This just in… The ZPD Chief Bogo will be at a press conference in just a few moments."

The news switched from the station's anchors to the ZPD's press conference room. Chief Bogo stood behind the podium filled with many microphones from various TV and radio stations. There was an overlap of questions and voices from many reporters. Bogo barked, "One at a time, ladies, and gentle mammals! One at a time!" Bogo pointed at one of the reporters, a male bunny.

"Would you please clarify what the SPS terrorist's leader say about the demand and the consequence if you don't give in to the demand?" the reporter asked.

"From what the so-called Fuhrer said," Bogo began, "that there are some of their supporters in strategic positions, armed with explosives around the city such as Savanna Central Station, shopping centers, and other public locations, who will try to kill as many people as possible. Because of this, we have just evaluated the animals from such public sites as we speak. Our sports teams in Zootopia from high school to the Zootopia Dynamo have agreed to cancel the sporting events tonight and the next few days until further notice. And –"

Suddenly, there was the sound of an explosion heard at the police station, startling everyone.

Few blocks from the police station, there was a new giant crater of what used to be one of the metro stations, Little Rodentia Station, across the street from the main entrance to Little Rodentia was located.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

The sound of the explosion shook every animal at the press conference room at ZPD.

"Where did that explosion come from?" someone said from the audiences of both journalists and other animals.

Chief Bogo, getting annoyed, barked, "ENOUGH! I must leave for a moment. Someone will be with you shortly!"

Bogo left the podium and strode to the back room where Nick and Judy are gluing to the TV as they wait for Bogo's order.

"All right, folks," Bogo said, "As you have just apparently heard, there was an explosion. Hold on while I get something from our helicopter squad on its location."

A young deer officer walked to the chief, handed him a paper and, whispered something to him, then he whispered back, and the deer nodded and left him. Bogo sighed as he scanned the paper.

"All right," Bogo resumed, "The helicopter squad reported that there was an explosion at Rodentia Metro Station in front of Rodentia. Well, of course, we need to send officers Wilde and Hopps over there right away to deal with the situation since we have no one smaller than you two outside of our Rodentia squad whose ZPD substation building is reported to be heavily damaged due to its close location to the metro station. We don't know if anyone survives in that substation.

Judy gasped, turned to Nick. "Fru Fru! I hope she's all right! Her house is close to that station!"

"I'm sure she'll be fine as her place is inside the wall from that station, but we will check to be sure once we get there, Carrots," Nick answered, turned to Chief Bogo. "Can we 'draft' Finnick to help with this situation as he's smaller than us?"

"All right, Wilde," Bogo said, "and since we still haven't heard from our Rodentia substation, you are in charge there unless you found Captain Browntail unharmed and alert. The firetrucks and ambulances are on the way there now. So you better get there now. Go with officer Deerebrook on his chopper, so you'll get there faster." He thumbed at where the young deer officer went.

"Finnick!" Nick yelled, and the little fennec fox turned from watching TV with the crowd, scowled, "What, Nick?"

"Come with us to Rodentia!" Nick answered, as Judy and he walked toward the door on the side. "We need you to help us there!"

"Rodentia?" Finnick asked, "Y'all need me because of my small size?"

"Yep," Nick replied as the trio rushed to the stairway to the roof where Deerebrook's helicopter is waiting. "Bogo said that we haven't heard from the substation and we are not sure if anyone survives there."

"All right," Finnick growled, "But this had better be the last time I help the fuzz today!"

"No promises," Judy replied before Nick could say anything as the trio got inside the chopper and put on their safety belts. "It won't be like that war you two were in, all right?" Finnick grunted. Nick looked in shock at Judy and then at his fennec fox friend.

"War?" Nick acclaimed, "Did you tell her about the war?"

"Yep."

"When?"

"When we were in the vent at that school while you were tied up by those Naxi," Finnick smiled, "We overheard your comment about the bugs to those Naxi so..." Nick sighed. Judy turned to her partner, "I won't tell a soul, Nicky." Finnick giggled at the nickname. Nick shook himself, said in disgust, "Ack!" Judy laughed.

The chopper flew for a short moment and landed on the clearing not far from Rodentia. Nick, Judy, and Finnick got off the helicopter. Nick gave Deerebrooke a thumb up as they strode to the crime scene between the ZPD's Rodentia substation and the front main gate. There was a crater the size of a hippo. The gate was badly damaged, and the substation was reduced into rubbles. Some first responders were clearing the debris for survivors. They saw one of an injured police officer who was a rat on the stretcher pushing by one of the EMTs Guinea Pig. Judy stopped the EMTs and sat down next to the injured officer.

"Hello, officer," Judy said, "Do you know where Captain Browntail is?"

"H-hello," the rat said with efforts, "I-I'm Officer Blandtail and I h-haven't seen C-Captain Brown-Browntail yet. I-I was in different room f-from him when this h-happened."

"All right, calm down, Blandtail," Judy said as she got up and let them go to the ambulance. Nick and Finnick looked at her with concerns.

Nick yelled, "Have anyone seen Captain Browntail around?"

One of the survivors, a mouse in a dirty dress, came up to Nick. He sat down.

"What is it, ma'am?" Nick asked.

"Officer," the mouse said, "I am Kathy Dormouse, and I'm the secretary for Captain Browntail. I was in the break room when this happened, and everything collapsed, and I barely got out of that rubble and I afraid that he's still under that rubble and… and…"

Nick understood and said, "Okay, thank you for that and do you know anyone who is in charge here at the moment?"

"W-well, I am not entirely sure, but for now, it seems that you are in charge, sir."

Nick sighed and thanked her. He stood up, turn to his partner.

"Seems that Captain Browntail is under that rubble and might not survive, so it appears that we are in charge at the moment. So we need to get this mess blow over and see if there is any we can assist with," Nick turned to Finnick, "Finnick, would you mind if you go check if Fru Fru is okay and all that?"

"Of course," Finnick said and went over the gate to go around carefully.

"Why would they attack Rodentia?" Judy said.

"Well, from what I heard about the Naxi," Nick said, "They considered the rodents as 'inferior' due to their small size, and many are known to eat them as well. Don't you remember the Great War and the Holocaust in school, Carrots?"

"Oh – oh, yeah," Judy stammered.

Nick noticed the black limo coming toward them, nudged Judy. She turned to see the limo. They recognized the limo from their first case together – Mr. Big's ride.

"Of course," Nick and Judy said at the same time. The limo stopped in front of the duo, Judy stood close to the plate license, commented, "I still remember that damn license number cuz I repeated it to your 'fast' friend, Flash, Nick." Nick shuffled his quiet snicker, and Judy hit his stomach. "Oof!" Nick cried out, as Judy walked pass him toward the doors. The polar bear, Ralph, got out, went to the back door, opened it and brought the shrew with thick eyebrows down to Judy's eye level.

"Hello, my dear Judy," Mr. Big said, "Any news about my Fru Fru and her baby, Judy?"

"Finnick is looking for her as we speak," Judy answered, "We should hear from him any moment."

"Your ears. Did the Naxi did that to your ears?"

"More or less, I'm okay now."

"Good," Mr. Big smiled, turned to Nick, "I see that you have managed to get out of the Naxi's grasp with Judy's and our help."

"Yes," Nick said, "I appreciate it and –"

They got interrupted by the arrival of the fennec fox, carrying something, no – someone, on his paws.

"Nick, I got Fru –" Fennick began, stopped abruptly upon seeing the polar bears and Mr. Big. "Oh, Mr. Big!"

He walked passed Nick toward Mr. Big, handed Fru Fru and her baby to him. "Fru Fru and Judy had a fright, but they are alright. Fru Fru only got a small scratch by some debris."

Fru Fru carried her baby and leaped over from Finnick's paw onto the ground while the bear lay down Mr. Big to the ground. He got off the chair and walked to his daughter and hugged her and the baby.

"I'm so glad that you two are all right," Mr. Big said with a big grin. "What of your husband?"

"He wasn't home as he was working at his company in Tundratown. I already texted him that I'm all right and he replied that he was relieved that the family is all right."

"Excellent. Excellent."

Judy turned toward Fru Fru, "Fennick mentioned that you got a scratch, so do you need anything from the medic?"

"Thank you for asking," Fru Fru smiled as she handed her baby, Judy, to her father. "I haven't had a chance to check myself as I got out of the mess without any significant harms. Judy is unharmed, thankfully."

Judy took Fru Fru over to the nearest ambulance, and one of the guinea pig EMTs checked Fru Fru and gave her little cleaning up with antibiotics and put a band-aid on her forehead. "She's good to go," the EMT said.

Mr. Big returned the baby to Fru Fru when the ladies returned. He turned to Nick and Finnick, "I want to discuss something with you so come on in my car." He turned to Judy, "You are welcome to join us unless you wish to stay with Fru Fru?"

Mr. Big motioned one of his polar bear to come and pick him up while Judy turned to Fru Fru, "Do you want me to stay with you for a moment?"

"You go right ahead," Fru Fru smile as she jingled her baby, "I'll be fine for a bit."

Judy nodded and joined the others in the car.

"Glad you could join us, Judy," Mr. Big, "As things are not going as we had hoped with those cats. I think we may have something that will help you put an end to this nonsense. From what I saw on the news, they are based at that deaf school, correct?"

"Yes, that's as far as we know," Nick agreed, "However we need to find their original hiding place. Those soldiers are gonna be training someplace big not far from here. There are many while I was held captive. From what I see on their clothes and their vehicles, I would guess that they train in the forest somewhere – probably about an hour or so from here. Bunnyhollow is south of here with so many farms and not much trees, so that's out. East is vast desert so, it gotta be somewhere either in the north on the other side of the mountains or in the west on the other side of the bay from the Rainforest District."

"Um… my thought as well, "Mr. Big agreed. "Can you make an arrangement with your chief and whoever in charge of the military so we can make coordinated attacks on all both fronts. Since we don't know the exact location in the north or west, it will spread out your army and police, but we have some loyal supporters that can assist you in this matter. What do you say?"

"Well," Finnick spoke before Nick could, "I could get my army buddies to help y'all out with this. So, give me a moment to get things done and meet with y'all." Nick groaned as Mr. Big nodded in agreement.

"Okay, Nick," Mr. Big said, "You get in touch with that army guy in charge of the army group surrounding the school. I'll go with Judy to meet with Bogo and make some arrangement."

"Before we go," Judy said before anyone opens the car door, "What about Fru Fru and Judy? They could stay with my mom for a bit, is that all right with you?"

"Sounds good but I thought she lives on the farm about two hours from here," Mr. Big wondered.

"No, she's in town to pick up one of the deaf children as her parents are out of town. She'll be staying at my place for a bit."

"All right, go ahead and get her to safety with your mother."

"Great!" Judy said gleefully.

Judy got out of the car, and the foxes went over to the place that used to be the ZPD substation to make some arrangement so the foxes could join Mr. Big. Judy went to Fru Fru and informed her that she could go to her place and gave her the address and direction to her place.

After few moment, Mr. Big, the foxes, and Judy returned to the limo and headed their way to the ZPD headquarter.


End file.
